


Alice's World

by Madyleen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Corporal Punishment, Dimension Travel, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Guardian-Ward Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-11
Updated: 2014-05-11
Packaged: 2018-01-24 08:37:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 28,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1598519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madyleen/pseuds/Madyleen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An emotionally disturbed teenage girl suddenly found herself in the middle of her favourite book's universe, changed and the daughter of a certain Potions Master, her life will change for the better (or maybe the worst) but what secrets hide underneath? There will be a HP/SS guardian/ward relationship involved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> The story takes place during PA and will be centred on my OC and Severus Snape at the beginning, but will include Harry later as I intend to write a sevitus story within the main plot.  
> There will be a first-person and a third-person omniscient point of views alternately (every five chapters).

Tonight, in the security of my bedroom, I was thinking about what my life had been until now. I was sixteen and already deeply wounded by life. My father's death many years ago seemed to have cursed my family to an unlucky fate. My mother was struggling so we could live decently but she was weak, and too many times I had found her drinking until she could barely recognise me, trying to forget about how miserable her life was. She was seeing a man whom I despised and who despised me in return. I had no friends, and was often feeling lonely. Almost every night my bed was soaked from my silent crying and one of the kitchen knives tacky by the blood running from my self-inflicted wounds. I knew it was not a solution to my problems but it enabled me to feel better for a while and for that I was grateful.

I often escaped my mind by reading fantasy literature, hoping to be part of one of these fantastic worlds. My favourite one was definitely Harry Potter's universe which fascinated me like no others. I spent hours imagining what my life could be if I was one of the story's characters.

This night like many others I fell asleep, my cheeks wet with tears and my head full of dreams from another world.

 

* * *

 

Dazzled by an unduly strong light I blink for a few seconds before opening my eyes entirely. To my great surprise I find myself in an unknown place and look warily around me.

_Where am I? Why am I not in my bed?_

I realise that I'm not even in a bed at all but sitting on a chair in front of a desk on which I seem to have fallen asleep. Sitting myself up straight I can see that I am in an old classroom, full of students no less. They are wearing some odd uniforms which appear to look like... robes. Frowning, I take a better look at them and notice a peculiar resemblance with the Harry Potter films which disturbs me greatly. I am starting to wonder where I've ended up when someone gets in front of my desk and talks to me.

"Is what I am saying so uninteresting that you fell asleep?"

"Er..." I reply, sounding a bit stupid.

_What's going on here? I don't know this man nor any of the students._

Feeling nervous about all the stares on me and understanding that I'm at fault, I whisper a "sorry, sir" and look down at my shoes, trying to disappear under my desk.

"It's all right but please try to pay attention next time," he says, smiling.

_Well, this teacher doesn't seem too bad._

"Come to see me after class." I nod silently and he returns to his desk to continue the lesson.

"As I was saying, today we will resume the chapter concerning dark creatures especially the grindylows."

_This time I'm positive, this is Harry Potter's world, I can't believe it!_

Suddenly overjoyed, I refrain myself from smiling but can't suppress the funny feeling inside my chest. Trying to guess in which time I am, I carefully observe the students but do not recognise any of them. The teacher looks quite old as some gray strands scatter his hair but studying his ragged clothes and scarred face, I start to realise who he is.

I'm pretty sure this is Remus Lupin, so that means Harry should be in Third Year but as I cannot see him anywhere, I'm probably not in the same year.

Wondering to which house I belong, I discretely check my uniform. _Slytherin._

I'm a bit disappointed not to be in the same house as Harry, Ron and Hermione but am very happy all the same to be at Hogwarts. Examining my hands, something bothers me. They are shorter than usual. I look down at my feet and legs, only to note that indeed something is definitely wrong with me. _I'm smaller than I was yesterday. Maybe my face has changed too?_

The only problem is that I don't have any mirror to make sure of it. But after pulling some of my hair – usually chestnut – I discover that I am now a blond girl.

 _I am clearly someone else,_ I think worriedly _, what happened to me?_ I can't wait to see how I look and am hoping that I'm not ugly. In any case, my body is really skinny and I seriously wonder if I'm underfed.

Leaving aside my thoughts for the moment, I concentrate on what the teacher is saying and take notes, even if writing with a quill is very different from what I am used to.

At the end of the class, I gather all my things in my school bag and walk towards the front of the room, where Professor Lupin – if that's him – is sitting.

Not knowing what to say, I stand before his desk and wait for him to speak which seems the most reasonable thing to do.

"I must admit that I am surprised by your behaviour Miss, you do not have a habit of sleeping in class."

 _So I should be a diligent student,_ I ponder, blushing a little under Lupin's gaze.

"Do you sleep well?" I give a brief nod, not knowing what to say as I am in this world for less than one hour.

"Ensure that this does not happen again, I won't tell your father this time." he says, a gentle smile on his face.

 _My father? Who's that?_ Apparently Lupin appears to know him but surely it cannot be a marauder, James is dead and Pettigrew is hiding under his rat form. I highly doubt Sirius had time to make a child before he was incarcerated and I don't see how he could tell him anyway.

Deep in thoughts, I leave the DADA classroom after saying goodbye to Professor Lupin and find myself in the middle of an empty corridor.

_What do I do now?_

Even if I am lost in a magical castle and absolutely don't know who I am, I have never been more excited in my whole life.

After some time, I decide to look for a bathroom. The castle is bigger and more beautiful that I have ever imagined and I enjoy a lot my walk around the stairs and corridors. I finally find one and bend over a mirror, now so nervous that I'm shaking.

_Oh my God!_

My face is so completely different from what I am used to that I stay several minutes staring at my own reflection. I have an old-fashioned hair cut with a fringe that almost covers my eyes, which have an intense black color and contrast with my light blond hair. My features are not unsightly though I cannot be called pretty either, but maybe if I was a bit chubbier and my skin was not so pale I could be somewhat cute. My clothes are very neat and I feel amused by my 'perfect little girl' look. Indeed I seem very young, barely eleven and I guess that I should be a First Year.

In order to verify my theory, I empty my school bag on the floor and find some ink bottles, quills, sheets of parchment, my notes taken during DADA and several books including one entitled 'The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2'. Frowning, I find it strange but assumed that I am thus a Second Year and must be twelve years old. _One year younger than Harry._

While putting back the things in my bag, I contemplate the many possibilities that could explain my sudden arrival in this world. Dumbledore probably knows something about it, but I fear that he would send me back and that's the last thing I want.

_Surely I'm not dreaming, am I?_

A bit worried by this eventuality, I take the decision to enjoy my stay here as much as possible and not to think too much about it.

I leave the bathroom very pleased with myself, ready to live wondrous adventures and eager to know more about this world and about who I am.

The idea that I could have another class today crosses my mind but unfortunately there is no timetable in my bag and I have therefore no mean to find out.

Aware that I am a Slytherin, I decide to look for my common room which is situated – if I remember well – in the dungeons.

_I just need to go down and I'll find them._

After a while I indeed manage to locate the dungeons, there is no way I can be mistaken.

_But where is the entrance of the common room?_

All of a sudden at the turning of a corridor, I hear distant voices and I stop to listen to where it comes from. Curious, I head in this direction and quickly notice a smug blond teenager surrounding by two beefy boys. Laughing, I can recall exactly who he is. _Draco Malfoy._

He seems to be up to something and not wanted to meddle, I intend to go back but unfortunately he has already noticed me, probably by the sound of my footsteps on the stony floor, and looks up directly at me.

"Alice!" he calls.

I prevent myself from turning around as I am not sure to whom he is talking to but obviously it's to me. _My name's Alice then?_

His face wears a friendly smile but I prefer to be careful as I don't know what kind of reputation I have among the Slytherins.

"Would you mind asking your father if we can have the Quidditch pitch tomorrow?"

I look at him with a confused expression, trying to make sense of what he has just said. _Ask my father? Is he a Quidditch player?_

"Er..."

"Is there a problem?"

"I... well, I mean..."

"Are you alright?" he asks, frowning before my foolish stammering.

"Yes, I'm just tired. Sorry."

"So, you'll ask him?"

"I will," I reply without thinking.

"Thanks," he says, smiling, "see you later then."

I realise that I have just made a promise I cannot hold to a 'friend' but honestly I am relieve he left because I started to feel uncomfortable in his presence. But I still have no clue about where is my common room and I wonder if asking someone wouldn't be wiser than looking around in vain.

_A Second Year is supposed to know that, it wouldn't make any sense. And even if I actually knew where it was, I don't have the slightest idea what the password could be._

Feeling frustrated, I think about going back to the DADA classroom and ask Professor Lupin when I suddenly remember a detail about Hogwarts.

 _It's a magical castle and there is a very special room that could help me,_ I think, now feeling excited. The room of requirement could probably answer some of my questions and luckily I remember exactly where it is.

Smiling, I walk promptly towards the stairs and count the floors on my mind until I reach the seventh floor and the famous tapestry representing dancing trolls.

_I want answers to my questions, I want answers to my questions, I want answers to my questions._

A door appears in front of me and I open it without hesitating. Inside I discover a small library which is not exactly what I expected to find but I take a random book out of the shelves entitled 'Questions & Answers'.

I have just opened it when a deep voice starts to talk out if it, startling me.

"What do you want to know?"

I stare at the book for a few seconds, abashed, before asking in a low voice "Do you know my name?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Receiving no answer, I frown and ask again "Do you know my age?"

"Yes."

"How old am I?"

The book remains silent and I sigh while looking at the cover once more. To my surprise, small inscriptions are engraved on the second cover.

_'I tell the truth and know many things. Ask me what you want to know with a correct formulation, and I will reply positively or negatively to all your questions._

_Be aware that all the truths are not good to know, the present and past hold no secret to me but tomorrow I cannot foresee.'_

After reading the message several times, I understand that I can only get 'Yes' or 'No' answers.

"Am I twelve years old?"

"No," answers the book.

"Eleven?" That wouldn't make much sense but then few things do since my arrival in this world.

"No."

"Ten?" I ask in very surprised tone, though I've already noticed that I do look quite young. So when the book replies by a convincing "Yes" this time, I feel very confused.

"But I am a Second Year, right?"

"Yes."

 _How is that possible?_ Students normally don't attend Hogwarts before eleven but maybe I am an exception. My thoughts go to my mysterious father and I am astonished to feel a smooth warmth running through my chest. In the other world, I don't remember my father I was too young when he died and my step-father lives only to annoy me. But thinking about this new father lets me unsettled and worried.

 _What if he's like mum? What if he does not really care about me?_ I wish he is a better parent than the ones I've known until now and I suddenly have an idea to make sure of it.

"Does my father love me?" I timidly ask the book.

"Yes."

Beaming widely, a lot of new questions rushed through my mind and don't know where to start.

"Is he at the school right now?"

"Yes."

"Is he a Quidditch player?"

"No."

I would like to ask who he is but unfortunately this book cannot help me to know that. But now very curious about my life here, I question the book with a great number of questions. This way I learn that I am an only child, that I resemble a bit my father and that he is not a marauder or a friend of Lupin. It seems that I have friends in this school – thing I didn't really have in the other world – and that I am even a bit popular among the Slytherins, for an unknown reason. Finally I'm informed that I don't have any other class today which relieves me greatly.

Sometime later, I find myself hungry and taking the book with me, I leave the room of requirement to come down in the Great Hall that I have caught sight of earlier.

While going down the stairs I meet a Slytherin Head girl – she has a brand-new badge on her chest – who addresses me politely.

"Alice, your father's looking for you."

"Oh," I say, registering the information.

"He looks angry," she adds, "if I were you I'll wait for him at his office."

"Okay," I reply uneasily, "thanks."

The girl gives me a sympathetic look before leaving me alone in the corridor, more confused than ever. Once she's gone I understand the implications of what she's just said.

_My father's a teacher at Hogwarts!_

Rather cooled by the news, I'm under the impression that my life won't be so easy in this world. Having a father as a teacher means he can spy on me every time he wants and will know immediately when I misbehave.

With this thought in mind, I sigh and decide to ask someone where my father is. Obviously I cannot go to his office as I don't know where it is but maybe I can wait for him somewhere.

Thoughtful, I don't notice the Ravenclaw boy coming towards me and almost get into him.

"Sorry," he says before apparently recognising me and grinning.

"Are you coming to see the match on Saturday?"

"Sure," I reply, guessing he's talking about a Quidditch match and feeling instantly excited about it.

The boy seems content with my answer and says goodbye before leaving. Now cheerful, I walk into the corridor leading to the first floor when I hear someone shouting, in a very cold and angry voice.

"Alison Snape!"

* * *


	2. Family Encounter

 I turn around to look at the man who has shouted so vehemently, and see Professor Snape, glaring angrily. I am absolutely sure that it's him – even if I've never seen his face before – and the least I can say is that he isn't pleased at all. He's very scary and I am relieved that his wrath is not on me but when he gets closer, I suddenly become aware that he was indeed shouting at _me,_ as there is no one else in the corridor.

 _But my name's not…_ I think before realising that Alice could very well be a diminutive of Alison.

He is now in front of me and I find myself petrified before his furious glare. To say that he is intimidating would be an understatement.

"Proud of yourself, are you?" he snarls.

Having no clue about what he is talking about – how could I know? – I remain quiet, too scared to say anything. But he's obviously not happy about not receiving an answer as he unceremoniously takes my arm and leads me down to the dungeons – or so I guess.

"We'll see if you're still silent in a moment." His grip on me is a bit too tight and I wince in pain, wondering what I've done to deserve such a treatment. As we walk, I realise that _he_ is my father which seems too weird to be true. _Snape is not supposed to have a daughter, and why should it be me?_ I don't know exactly who I was expecting but certainly not him.

Lost in thoughts, I suddenly notice that we are now in his office and that Snape is staring at me with a piercing gaze. Feeling extremely nervous, I look down at my feet and try to ignore the odd feeling of guilt that has settled in my stomach.

"May I know where you slept last night?"

"Er…" I reply for the third time of the day.

"I beg your pardon?"

Unsure of the correct answer to give, I decide to improvise something. "I… I was…" but I'm so intimidated that I can hardly speak.

"My patience is running thin."

"In my dorm," I say quickly though it sounded more like a question.

"Really," his voice wears a threatening tone and I sense that it was not what he wanted to hear. "In this case, could you tell me why Miss Hathaway didn't see you all night?"

"She must have been sleeping," I whisper softly.

"Do not get smart with me," he scolds, "I am perfectly aware that you were not in your dormitory last night."

I am starting to be annoyed by his questions and frustrated of being so ignorant of my own life. "Why do you ask, then?" His eyes grow wide and I think that I probably shouldn't have expressed my opinion so openly. I observe him taking a deep breath before briefly closing his eyes and addressing me again. "Where were you?"

"I don't know," I admit honestly.

"Are you kidding me?" Not knowing what to do, as lying doesn't seem a good option, I slowly shake my head. "Sorry."

"What for?"

I prevent myself from sighing and look at him with a confused expression. _Is he dumb? I just said I didn't know where I was._ "I don't remember."

My _father_ raises his eyebrows with a quizzical look on his face and I wonder if he believes me or not. I acknowledge that it must sound ludicrous but that's nothing but the truth.

"Don't you know that there is a known murderer on the loose?" Something comes to my mind at these words and I reckon that he is talking about Sirius Black. "I do."

"And knowing this, you think that it's perfectly safe to hang about in the corridors at night?" _Probably not._ "I don't know if you realise how dangerous it could have been." From his expression – though he hides it well – I can see that he has been very worried and I start to feel bad about it. "I'm…"

"That's enough," he interrupts sharply, "I don't want to hear a word from you." Nobody has never talked to me this way and I close my mouth, subdued. "From now on you will sleep here in our apartments because obviously I cannot trust you." The last words hurt me but I am more frustrated by the fact that I wouldn't be able to go to my dorm where I haven't even set a foot yet!

"I thought you were mature enough to be treated like the other students but it seems that I was mistaken."

"But," I start before being interrupted again.

"We had an agreement," he scowls, "you had to be responsible to sleep with your classmates. As it is not the case, I remove this right from you."

I ponder about what this means for a few seconds. Apparently he was part of my early entry at Hogwarts but it doesn't explain why I did start school earlier in the first place.

"Could I still go to the common room?" I shyly ask.

"Of course," he replies, staring at me, "but you must be back here at 8pm at the latest."

"Yes… Father," I speak up, as he is clearly waiting for an answer. Apparently this is how I am used to call him because he doesn't make any comment or appear surprised. _Not that I would call him Dad or Daddy anyway._

Looking carefully at the man, I try to see him as my father which doesn't seem as difficult as I first thought. He surely isn't very funny and I will definitely avoid making him angry in the future, but I feel somewhat mixed-up inside me. It's like something that I knew wanted to pop up out of my mind but that I couldn't recall what it was. My reasoning is also becoming less coherent than it was an hour ago, like a thick fog has settled inside my brain.

"I ask you one more time," suddenly snaps the Head of Slytherin, getting me out of my thinking. "Where were you last night?"

I feel like snapping back at him – for that I don't know more than before – but I refrain myself from doing so as it would lead me nowhere but making him angrier. So I remain silent, not daring to say anything or looking at him. It would be too risky to lie as I don't know much about me – or about him – for the moment.

"Very well," he articulates in a low voice, his unreadable expression not allowing me to know what he thinks. "You'll study here this afternoon, go sit at the desk over there."

 _Studying?_ I sigh inwardly but walk towards the desk he's pointing out _. I'd rather explore the castle or do something as fun._

"You are not to leave my office without my permission, is that clear?"

I sit on the chair, making more noise than necessary and glare at him. _It feels like the army here!_

"I didn't hear your reply," he says in a threatening tone.

"Yes," I grunt, and it probably sounded a bit more insolent that I intended it to. _But really, does he need to speak to me like that?_

Snape frowns but says nothing more and leave his office at a fast pace, almost slamming the door.

I grab my school bag and get all my books on the desk, looking for something to do. I cannot find any sheet of parchment detailing my homework so I decide to rewrite my notes from DADA class. I take half an hour doing it after what I start reading my textbook which is highly interesting.

A few hours has passed, I'm now tired of studying but most of all I am very hungry. Closing my book, I sigh and daydream for a while, examining the room. The decoration is somewhat grim but otherwise that's not too bad.

I get up from the chair, eager to stretch my legs. There are two doors at the back of the room but I dare not go to see where it leads. _Probably to Snape's private apartments._

My stomach makes a grumbling noise and I curse my father and his stupid rules. _Stay here while I'm starving?!_

Searching through my memory, I remember that the entrance to the kitchens is hidden behind a painting representing a bowl of fruit; it's very simple to enter, as all I need to do is tickling the pear. _Surely I can leave to eat, can't I?_

I take the decision that I won't let Snape dictate what I should do or not, and head toward the door. After half an hour and endless detours, I finally find the kitchens to my great delight.

I watch in amusement as the small elves want to serve me all at the same time. _There are so many of them!_ I eat heartily and try all the delicious dishes they offer me until I feel completely full. After warmly thanking the elves, I go back to the dungeons, trying to recall the way as best as I can. It only takes me fifteen minutes this time and I'm relieved when I recognise the door of Snape's office. Hoping that he has not returned yet, I open the door and enter quietly, only to find that unfortunately he _is_ back and was obviously waiting for me.

Suddenly my previous idea doesn't sound so good anymore and I wish I had not left the office.

My father walks toward me, looking so furious that I step back, expecting him to slap me. He does not, but instead he pulls my left ear, which is painful enough in itself.

"I thought I told you to stay here," he speaks in a low voice.

"But I've been studying for hours and I was hungry," I plead.

"If you had lunch at the Great Hall like you should have, it would not have happened." _Damn! It was probably just after Professor Lupin's class._ "I wouldn't have thought that you would disobey me just after what happened last night." _Maybe he's right but I don't even know what I did, that's so unfair._

"Are you asking for a punishment today?" He releases me but doesn't look less angry.

"I'm sorry," I whisper while rubbing my ear.

"You're grounded until I say otherwise."

"It's not fair," I sulk. _Really that's not such a big deal._

"What has got into you today?!" he exclaims, seemingly baffled by my talk back. I sheepishly look down, feeling confused.

"Go to your room," he orders. Thanks to his hand gesture, I guess which door leads to _my room_ and quickly obey. Closing the door, I find myself in a sitting room which has three other doors. I try the one on my right and discover – to my surprise – another sitting room but much smaller than the other one. But there again are two new doors and I instinctively go to the one on the right, which appears to be my room. It is quite spacious with a double bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a mirror, a small library, a desk and two old trunks, which especially attract my attention. A green carpet covers most of the floor and an enchanted window shows a view of the park, which is currently cloudy. _That's a nice room._ Strangely, I feel at home though I have no memory of ever being here before.

My thoughts go to my father and I start to feel a bit anxious about what I am going to tell him. He will certainly ask me again what I did last night and if I have no answer to give him, I can tell he won't be happy. Snape scares me a little and I wonder what kind of punishment he was referring to earlier because it sounded awful. He's so very strict, I don't know how I'm going to live with him without exploding. I'm not used to have someone constantly watching me like this.

Sitting on my bed, I notice my school bag on the floor next to the desk and get up to pick it up. The book I've found in the Room of Requirement is still here and I open it without really knowing what I want to ask.

"Was I with someone last night?" I murmur to the book.

"Yes." _Well, at least I'm not alone in this._

"Did I do something forbidden?"

"Yes." My heart's beating suddenly goes wild and I sigh wearily. _How did I get into this mess?_

I'm about to ask another question when the door of my room opens and I throw hastily the book under my bed. Snape enters and looks at me coldly. "Are you calmed down?"

 _He is so annoying with his stupid questions!_ _I am_ irritated to be treated like a small child. Ignoring him, I cross my arms over my chest and start sulking.

"Obviously you're not," he states.

"Neither do you," I reply, glaring at him.

"I've had enough of your insolence," he snaps sharply. "You'd better stop talking back or you won't like the consequences."

"I can never do anything with you, anyway," I shout without thinking. "Go fuck yourself!"

His face is stunned for half a second and I hardly realise what happens next. He grasps my shirt, sits on my bed and pulls me over his knees, before delivering a forceful smack on my backside.

"How dare you speak to me this way!" he admonishes. "I never want to hear you say this word again." I am so shocked to find myself in this position that I don't react at first. But when I feel a second smack on the top of my thighs, I suddenly become very aware of what is going on. _He cannot be doing that, can he?_ I try to escape his grip but he's far too strong and I struggle for a moment before giving up.

"No, please." But my plea has no effect because he continues without paying any attention to my words. After a while I can't prevent myself from crying, and my vision becomes blurred between my blond hair strands. I cannot even hear half of what my father is saying, feeling so miserable and ashamed.

"... and be so cheeky for Merlin's sake!"

"I'm sorry," I whimper, hoping he'll stop soon. "I'll behave, I promise."

"You'll be really sorry in a moment", he says before lifting my skirt and pulling down my underwear. I gasp in horror, my lungs deprived of air for a few seconds. _This has got to be the worst punishment ever! I can't believe he's doing this to me._

Finally after what has seemed like an eternity, he stops and pulls up my clothes. I have never been spanked before and never thought it could be so painful and humiliating.

As he puts me back on my feet, I'm still sobbing and feel very sorry. I know I shouldn't have talked to him the way I did but in the other world, I sometimes speaks like this to my mother and she doesn't seem to mind. _Well, she doesn't mind me much in any case._

"It's over now, child," I hear Snape saying. "Stop crying." But I can't stop because I feel so lost and confused. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are." He gently leads me toward him again and takes me into his arms. I need it so much at this moment that I let him, though I am still mad at him for what he has just done. My sobs decrease gradually and several minutes later, stop completely.

"What a mess you made of yourself," sneers Snape, releasing me.

I scowl at that but say nothing. _As if it was my fault._

"Let's have dinner, and then you can go to bed."

"I'm not tired," I yawn, following him in the sitting room.

"Of course, you're not," he chuckles softly.


	3. The Truth

The following morning, I wake up a bit late and stretch lazily in my bed. Yesterday's events come to my mind and I sigh heavily, burying my face into my pillow. It seems that all of this is not a dream after all, and although I am very happy to be here, my life is not how I had imagined it to be.

I decide to get up and get dressed. As it is Saturday, I wonder if I should wear my uniform or not and opt for the latter. I find several dresses in my wardrobe and choose a pale blue one, after what I look at my mirror, curious to see myself again. I smile slightly and stare at my reflection for a while, lingering on my deep black eyes, so similar to my father's. Suddenly the ten year old little girl on the mirror sticks out her tongue at me before giggling childishly. Astonished at first, I quickly remember that it's a magical mirror and laugh merrily.

Feeling hungry, I decide to look for Snape as I don't know if I can leave our quarters without his permission. Trying different doors, I discover a small office and a library but it is in his teacher's office that I find him.

"Hello, Father."

"Good morning," he replies coldly, looking up from the tests he is marking. I feel a bit shy now that his piercing gaze is on me.

"May I go to the Great Hall to have breakfast?"

Without answering, he waves his wand and a full breakfast appears on the right hand side of his desk, which is not covered by student's essays. "Sit down." I quickly obey and take a piece of toast. I eat silently for a couple of minutes, observing him carefully.

"Eat some fruit and finish your milk," Snape orders without looking up.

I glance toward the blueberries and bananas bowl before finally taking an orange. While eating, I suddenly have an astounding flashback. _A redhead boy is sitting on the floor next to me in a dark circular room, we are laughing and his name came to my mind as clear as daylight._

"Clayton Flanders," I whisper, catching the attention of my father. He gives me a questioning look and frowns. "What about him?"

"He was with me on Thursday evening," I admit.

"This idiotic Hufflepuff boy?" Snape asks in astonishment. "What were you doing with him?"

I chew on my bottom lip, trying hard to remember. "I don't know."

"You cannot recall or you don't want to?"

"I can't, I've told you before!" I exclaim, annoyed at him.

"Do not speak to me on that tone of voice," he warns.

"Sorry," I quickly apologise.

He rises from his chair and I freeze, afraid that I've already made him angry.

"Follow me," he simply says. I get up and walk behind him as he heads towards his potions store. He searches through his shelves and pick up a small vial filled with a blood-red liquid. "Drink." I dare not ask what it is so I merely take it and do as I'm told.

It tastes awful and I make a grimace of disgust. "That's gross!"

Snape does not comment and takes back the empty vial, watching me conscientiously.

At first I think it didn't work because nothing happens. But soon my vision becomes uneasy as stars begin to dance in front of my eyes and a rush of emotion assaults me. _A redhead boy is sitting on the floor next to me in a dark circular room, we are laughing but in a way which doesn't sound genuine. I see that we are consuming a greenish blue powdery substance that makes us stoned and sleepy._

I finally emerge from the dream-like memory but new ones slowly fill my mind and I recognise them as mine.

"Well?" Snape asks impatiently.

For a second I think about pretending that I still don't know but after meeting his gaze, I dismiss the thought completely.

"We were in the North Tower until morning," I confess, "and we had some blue ivy leaves." My statement is welcomed by a disbelieving look and I sense that the Potions master is going to lose his temper.

"What?!" he exclaims, bewildered. He evidently wasn't expecting this answer.

I step back, very afraid of him now but he doesn't even look at me and rushes out of the room, making the door shaking out of its frame.

By his reaction, I become very worried and I feel my legs trembling. _What will he do this time? Surely he's going to beat me or something._ I walk to my room and sit on the bed, bringing my legs against my chest. My breathing is jerky and I rest my head on my knees, trying to calm down.

An hour passes before I hear a door open – probably Snape's office – and approaching footsteps.

"Alice!" my father calls, obviously looking for me. An anguish feeling overwhelms me at the sound of his voice, and unable to control myself, I start to cry silently.

A few minutes later, the door of my room opens and Snape enters, walking toward me.

"Alice, why are you crying?" he asks and I notice that there's no anger in his tone any more.

"Because you're going to punish me again," I whisper.

"Yes, but that's nothing you won't be able to recover from."

I sniffle and wipe my nose with my sleeve, which earns me a disapproving look from Snape.

"I've talked to the Headmaster and to Mr. Flanders who said that he and you found the ivy leaves on Wednesday after an unfortunate event." He paused. "Do you confirm this?"

I nod, remembering very well how two of my schoolmates bullied the poor Fourth Year after History of Magic class.

"I'm not proud of your classmates' behaviour though I'm very pleased with yours."

"You are?" I ask, not quite believing his words.

"Yes, it was very decent of you to help him afterwards." He acknowledges. "But I'm certainly not happy about your idea to try the hallucinogenic substance you found. The blue ivy can be extremely dangerous and you could even have been killed if your body hadn't stood its poisonous sap." Hearing that, I recall being quite eager the try out the leaves but not the reason behind it. Surely I hadn't been as stupid as to just be curious about it?

"What were you thinking?" he snaps sharply. "Were you completely out of your mind?"

I fidget a little under his glare, knowing better than to give an answer to these questions.

"I should give you a caning for your lack of common sense!"

"Please don't," I plead, horrified at the thought.

"You should have come to me or a professor when you found it and not have followed this brainless boy who knew very well was it was. The Headmaster has decided that he would be expelled for two weeks."

"Am I expelled too?" I ask, not wanting to imagine what would happen if it was the case.

"Of course not." I let out a sigh of relief and he continues as if he had not been interrupted. "I am aware that he is more to blame than you, especially because he is older, but still I'd expect you to think before you act." He sighs. "As I said yesterday you are grounded and it probably stands until the end of the year." I look at him wearing a confused expression. _Is that all?_ He seemingly noticed because he continues on a threatening tone. "But you'd better not do something like this again because I won't be so lenient next time."

"I won't, Father."

"See that you do." His face has softened and he gets up. "Wait here."

He left the room and I dry the remaining tears from my face. _It didn't go so bad after all._ When he comes back, he has a small bottle containing a purple potion in his hand.

"I give you this against my better judgment as I'm not sure you deserve it."

"What is it?"

"It will help you to feel better." I take the bottle and give him a little smile.

"Thanks." He nods slightly and I quickly drink the potion, feeling instantly my uneasiness go away. _It's magic!_ I return the vial to him and rub my eyes which are red and puffy.

My father slightly shakes his head, his face wearing a wry expression.

"What am I going to do with you?" I give him a sheepish smile. "I'll be in my lab if you need me."

Shorty after he left, I hear someone knocking at the entrance of my father's office. I swiftly get up from my bed and walk silently to the door of my room, listening carefully. I discern two distant voices but I cannot understand what they are saying as my father's office is too far away.

I slowly open the door and slip out of my room in order to satisfy my curiosity.

"How does it feel Lupin to become suddenly so dependent on me?"

"Severus, you know that I am very grateful to you for providing me a monthly wolfsbane potion."

"You'd better be because if it wasn't for Dumbledore, you would have nothing."

"I am aware of this and I thank you even more."

"You and your bloody gratitude," growls Snape.

They stop talking and the sound of leaving footsteps echoes for a moment. _Are they gone?_ The door of the office is ajar and I venture to glance inside. I can see that Remus is alone, apparently waiting for my father. I enter and greet him politely.

"Hello professor."

"Hello Miss, how are you?" he asks kindly. "You look tired."

"No, it's just that... I've been crying" I admit.

"What's happened, child?" His face wears a concerned expression and I wonder why he cares.

"Stop bothering my daughter Lupin and mind your business," Snape growls, back from his stores.

"I'm sorry Severus but I was just asking if she was okay."

"All Dumbledore asks from you is to teach the students, not to meddle with their private life." Professor Lupin sighs and drops the subject. "Your potion," snarls Snape, handing him a vial.

"Thank you Severus."

"Now if we're done, I suggest that you leave."

"I wish you both a good day," Remus says wearily.

My father muttered something under his breath before firmly closing the door. "We'll have lunch shortly."

"Meanwhile may I go to the park, please?"

"Should I remind you that you're grounded?"

"But I'm bored," I allege. _Well, I will be soon in any case._

"You'll help me in my lab this afternoon."

I frown at him. "Why?"

"Because I say so." _Now that's rich!_ To say the truth, I actually look forward to brew some potions so I am quite happy about it. _But was it hard to just ask if I wanted to?_

"Right," I scowl.

"Oh and Alice," he adds. "Go face the corner for ten minutes." _What?!_

"I didn't do anything!" I exclaimed.

"What about eavesdropping?"

"I wasn't..." I stop myself as he raises a questioning eyebrow at me. "But..."

"Do not make me repeat myself."

"That's not fair," I sulk while walking toward the wall at a snail's pace.

"Life is not fair, get used to it."

"You're mean to me."

"Be quiet now or you'll find out how much I can be." _I hate him! Who does he think he is to treat me like a five year old?_ I actually ponder on it for a minute, frowning at the walls in front of me. _Is a father supposed to do that?_

"You may leave the corner," he says after a while. _Already?_

I take a few steps to reach the sofa and sit next to him "Father?"

"Yes."

"What's wrong about eavesdropping?" He gives me an astonished look but straightened his expression almost immediately.

"It isn't polite to listen to other people's conversation as they might want to have a private discussion and not have someone else listening. But a far more important point is that you could hear things that are not meant for your ears."

"What sort of things?"

"Ones that can endanger your life or the life of those you care about. Things you wish you have never overheard."

"Had you?" I frown. He does not reply but a shadow seems to cross his face and I suddenly know what he is thinking about. _The prophecy concerning the Potters._

"Do not repeat my errors," he whispers thoughtfully, putting a hand on my knee. I observe him curiously for a moment, musing on his words.

"So that's why you punished me," I state. _It doesn't sound like a bad reason. Maybe he's not such a git as I thought he was._

Snape sneers. "One can say that."


	4. Overstepped Limits

"What is that?"

It's after lunch and I'm in my room, fumbling around in one of the two old trunks which has seemingly had not been opened for a while, as the lock was quite dusty. This one is full of wizard games and toys and I find myself very amused by my discoveries. "It's a potion kit!" The game has seen better days and has obviously been overly used. _It seems I'm quite fond of potions_ , I smile to myself.

As this thought crosses my mind, a memory appears from nowhere, quite suddenly.

_I am in my father's potions lab, my head resting on my arms as I carefully watch him cutting some purple roots. "Father, how much longer before I can attend Hogwarts?"_

" _Another three years to wait."_

" _Why can't I attend next September?"_

" _Because students don't until they are eleven."_

" _Why?"_

" _That is the rule."_

" _But I have already read all the First Year's textbooks you know." Snape chuckles at this. "And you have taught me Potions already."_

" _Yes, I daresay you are ahead of the programme."_

" _Please let me go Dad," I plead. "Please."_

" _Unfortunately it is not mine to decide."_

" _Who does?"_

" _The Headmaster, of course."_

" _Would you let me if you were?"_

" _I cannot say," he replies while tidying his work surface. "And now is your bedtime." He pushes me gently toward my room and I comply without protests._

" _Could you ask professor Dumbledore, please?"_

" _I will do no such thing," he says flatly, "into bed now." I obey and get under the sheets._

" _That's what Mrs Quillen always said." My father raises an eyebrow at this statement. "She would never let me skip grades but Miss Cailyn convinced her into it."_

" _Did she?"_

" _She said she was tired of me being an insufferable precocious brat in her class and that she would gladly get rid of me." My father does not reply but look at me with a somewhat sad expression. "And when I've skipped one grade, Marion was so mad at me, she would not help me in French class anymore."_

" _She doesn't seem to be much of a friend," Snape remarks._

" _She is not," I confirm. "And besides she left the boarding school before me. I don't think a friend would do that, don't you?"_

" _It certainly wasn't her fault," my father sighs, a hint of regret in his voice._

" _No," I admit, throwing a glance at him. "But, still."_

Back to the present, I now remember clearly this memory but cannot recall why I felt such resentment toward my father.

"Alice!" I hear him call. _Speak of the devil..._ I get up and walk to my father's office when a soft knock echoes at the front door.

"Father, there's someone at the door," I say, hard enough for him to hear. He appears shortly from the next room – surely his potions lab – and goes to open the door while I glance curiously at it.

A messy dark-haired boy stands in front of Snape, looking unsure of himself.

"What do you want, Potter?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you Sir, but I have a detention with Mr Filch and he's not at his office."

"Have you been to the trophy room?

"Yes, Sir." Snape glares at him and lets out an annoyed sigh. "Wait for me here."

After he left, I consider the teenage boy for a few seconds before taking a couple of steps toward him.

"Hi, Harry." The Gryffindor throws me a suspicious look and does not reply. _Well, I've probably never talked to him before._

"Let's hope Filch didn't drown in a lavatory pan," I say mockingly. "You know," I add as he does not react, "by cleaning them all the time." Harry gives me a half-smile, apparently amused.

"I guess it wouldn't be too bad though. He can really be a git when he wants to."

"Yeah, he is." We look at each other for a while and I finally break the silence.

"Why are you in detention?"

"Night walk in the corridors."

"Did you have the _Don't-you-know-that-there-is-a-known-murderer-on-the-loose_ refrain too?"

"Kind of," smiles Harry.

Several minutes later, my father finally comes back and he seems to be in a very bad mood.

"As it appears, Mr Filch is indisposed at the moment so you will be doing your detention in my office." He flicks his wand and an impressive number of dirty cauldrons peep out of the floor. "I will be in my lab, but be aware that I will be watching you Potter, so you'd better be cleaning properly or else." The Gryffindor simply scowls and takes a brush to begin his tasks.

"You come with me," he orders sharply. I am surprised by his tone – I didn't do anything wrong after all – but follow him in his lab without a word. He lights the fire under a big cauldron and starts gathering the ingredients. "We will make a new batch of wolfsbane potion," he explains. "Go fetch the roots of aconite in my stores." _The_ _roots of what?_ I slowly walk back to his office, barely remembering where the potions stores are. Fortunately I find the room almost immediately – glancing at the Gryffindor while passing in front of him – and examine the labels on the numerous jars. It takes me quite a lot of time to find the roots, but considering the amount of potions ingredients in the room, I'm rather proud of myself. I swiftly walk back to the lab, but the Gryffindor has stopped scrubbing and observe me curiously.

"What are you doing in here?"

"We are making a wolfsbane potion," I explain, holding the jar tight.

"What kind of potion is that?"

"It's for..." I stop myself as I realise that Harry does not know that professor Lupin is a werewolf. "Never mind."

As I come back to the lab, I notice my father pacing across the room, wearing a concerned expression on his face.

"That Black bastard..." I hear him muttered. "...surely he thinks he's better than everyone else...escaping Azkaban...the fool...Albus the old coot... I'll never hear the end of it..."

"Father..."

"What took you so long?" he snaps. I am so startled that the jar slips out of my fingers and breaks loudly on the stone floor. I look at the mess and feel bad to have ruined such nice roots.

"Merlin's beard Alice! Do you know how much these cost?"

"I'm sorry."

"Maybe some can be retrieved." He vanishes the pieces of broken glass and steps out of the room. "Do not touch anything." I sigh and hope that he's not too mad at me.

"Are you being slow on purpose, Potter?" he snarls. "Speed up or you'll come back tomorrow."

Snape returns with a new jar of aconite roots and two empty pots. He made me sort the roots on the floor though I cannot see any differences between them. When he seems satisfied with my work, he orders me to come next to him and I listen carefully to what he is saying.

He explains to me the different steps of the preparation, detailing so many things that I find it difficult to memorise everything. After a few minutes, I am completely lost and have no clue about what I should do – or should not do.

"Now you can cut the figs," Snape says, absorbed in his work. I take the fruits along with the knife and put them in front of me.

"How did you say I should cut it?"

"Exactly like the shrivelfigs," he snaps. _Best explanation ever! That's not helping at all._ I start to be annoyed at him for being so grumpy and unreceptive. _Is he still mad at me for breaking the jar? Thinking of it, he is like this since Harry has arrived._

"What do you think you're doing?" Snape is hovering over me, making me extremely nervous.

"Cutting the figs?"

"That's certainly not the way I asked for it to be cut," he grunts. "Have you been listening at all?"

"Yes but..."

"You are mashing them, look at this mess!" _That's going to be a long day..._

During the next half-hour, Snape spends his time criticising everything I do and never seems to be satisfied, so that my head is pounding and I feel like bursting into tears at any moment.

"Merlin help me, what are doing with this Horklump juice?!" I instantly put back the bottle on the table and retreat a few feet away from the Potions master. _I'm trying to do my best, really..._ He glares at me and finally sighs deeply. "Since you cannot do anything right today, you'll read your potions textbook until I finish the first stage of the brewing. Afterwards I'll quiz you so you'd better know your lesson." _Can't I just be left alone in here?_ To be honest I'm starting to hate potions and I'm relieved that he has asked me to stop helping him. "What are you waiting for?" I suddenly realise that I have been daydreaming for a while and open my mouth to answer him but he cuts me before I've time to say a word. "Go out of my lab!" _God, he really needs to relax once in a while!_ Intending to go to my room, I return to Snape's office.

"Are you okay?" I turn my head to see the Gryffindor watching me. He has foam around his face and I can't fight the slight smile that makes its way onto my face.

"I'm not the one scrubbing cauldrons," I reply wryly.

"Well, I prefer doing this than being around Snape today. I haven't seen him so furious since Neville blew up his cauldron in September.

"You have a point," I admit. "I wish he would stop shouting at me like this." Leaving the Gryffindor to his cleaning, I head to my room and look for the Second Year potions textbook in my bag. I sit on my bed and open it, wondering what kind of information I should be learning first. Very concentrated, I try to remind as much as possible, studying closely every page. _Maybe he'll be proud of me if I succeed in answering all of the questions?_

Sometime later, loud voices coming from the office interrupt my reading and I quickly understand that Harry and my father are having an argument. I dare not go to see what's happening so I merely try not to listen and focus on the swelling solution. Several doors slam and a dead silence settles in for a couple of minutes.

"Alice, come here!" Hearing the harsh tone of my father, I warily walk toward the lab, hating it when he is in this mood. Snape has completed his work as the worktop is clean.

"Give me your textbook." I hand it to him with trembling hands and watch him anxiously.

"Well, tell me how the puffer-fish eyes must generally be prepared before being added to a potion." I look at him blankly. _Was that in the book?!_ He raises an eyebrow and I feel my stomach tightens.

"Alice, this is a First Year question."

"But you asked me to read the Second Year book," I reply accusingly.

"You are supposed to know the content of the First Year book as well." _He's got a damn nerve!_

"But..."

"Answer the question."

"I don't know the answer."

"How come you don't know?" I shrug. "Very well, if you need me to remember your lesson, so be it." I frown, having a bad presentiment about it. _What does he mean by that?_ I don't have to wait long to find out as Snape opens one of the drawers of his desk and takes out a long slender stick. I stare at the unexpected object with fearful eyes and look up at my father.

"Stretch out your hands in front of you." I stiffened. _Surely he doesn't mean that, right?_

"Alice," he warns. Chewing on my bottom lip, I obey but my hands are shaking.

"Now tell me, what are the main ingredients of a forgetfulness Potion?" I remain silent for a while, trying to remember but nothing comes to my mind.

"I... I don't know." I've hardly finished my sentence that Snape slaps my fingers with the cane. I hold back a groan. _God that hurts!_

"Lethe River Water, Mistletoe Berries and Valerian Sprigs. What made that so complicated? You perfectly know this! _Do I?_

After a few more questions – to which I rarely have the answer – my father seems to be even angrier than before, shouting at me in such a nasty tone than I'm terrified. The back of my hands are striped with red welts, which hurt very badly, and I cannot concentrate anymore. My heart is pounding loudly inside my chest and I am so afraid that I'm starting to hyperventilate.

"Please stop," I sob, not knowing what to do to calm him. "Please, Dad."

But the cane slaps my fingers once again and I suddenly take the decision to flee away from him. Turning around, I rush to the front door and run at full speed in the corridors. I cannot see much as my eyes are brimming with tears but all I know is that I want to put as much distance as possible between Snape and me. _He is completely mad!_ On the way, I bump into something big and hard – but soft as the same time – and I raise my head to see what it can be. I blink several times, now seeing a big blurred figure.

"Where are yeh runnin' to like that?" Two bright black eyes are looking curiously at me and I try hard to determine to whose they belong to.

"Hagrid?"

"Yea, little one. What are yeh so upset 'bout?"

"Snape's fault," I cry.

"I see, guess he could make anyone cry this one." I glance fearfully around me, afraid that Snape would run after me. "I wanna go."

_Why is all this happening to me? Why can't I just have a normal life like everyone? Why does he have to be so mean to me? This world is even worse than the one I come from._

"Let's go to my hut, shall we?" offers the gamekeeper.

"Okay." I follow him to the park, feeling lost and sad like never before.

"Please Mr Hagrid, protect me from him," I plead.

"Did Snape hurt yeh?" I nod, unable to stop the tears rolling down my cheeks.

I soon find myself sitting on a huge armchair in front of a fireplace and the soothing atmosphere helps to calm my sobs. I listen to the crackling fire for a moment while Hagrid is making tea.

"You're Alison, are yeh?"

"Yes, Sir."

"No need to call me Sir," he smiles. "Here, do yeh want some tea and biscuits?" I'm not hungry but the man is so nice to me that I can't say no.

"Yes, please." He pours the hot liquid into a flowered cup and puts it in front of me. "Here yeh go."

I try to take the cup without injuring my hands further but I can't help wincing a little.

"What have yeh done to yer hands?" asks the half-giant in an alarmed tone.

"That's nothing," I whisper.

"It doesn't seem like nothin' to me," he frowns. I look down and wipe my eyes with my sleeve. _I'm such a baby crying like that._

"He will be so angry at me."

"Why would 'e?"

"Because I ran away." At this thought, I shake a little and glance worriedly at the door.

"Relax, Alison, he doesn't know yeh're here." _He'll know sooner or later._

"You can call me Alice, everyone does." I raise my eyes at the half-giant. "What if he comes?"

"I won't let 'im hurt yeh," he assures. "Yeh'll be all righ'." I don't really trust Hagrid but I guess I have no other choice for the moment. Feeling distressed, I slowly sip my tea, letting the hot liquid warming my body.

Not long after that, there is a knock on the door and I run to hide behind the armchair, knowing full well that it is a childish behaviour but the truth is that Snape truly terrifies me now.

"Hello, Hermione," Hagrid greets from the entrance of the hut. "Come in." The door closes and I quickly get out of my hiding place, feeling my cheeks redden. The Gryffindor girl studies me for a second before apparently judging that I'm not a threat. "Hi."

"Hi," I reply shyly. "Did you see Snape outside?"

"No," she frowns. "Should I?"

"Are you sure?"

"Well if he was in the park, I did not see him." I let out a relieved sigh and she gives me a puzzled look.

Hagrid talks joyfully for a while, serving Hermione tea but I'm not listening. The events that have happened earlier are running through my head. I feel betrayed though I cannot explain why at first, but I soon realise – to my surprise – that I trusted Snape and that he has crushed my trust into pieces. _Maybe I don't deserve to have a loving parent._ I look down at my hands, and touch one of the red lines with my finger, instantly hissing in pain. Sighing, I raise my head, only to find Hermione staring at me, alternating her gaze between my face and my hands. I'm under the impression that she understands better than she should and it bothers me.

Before I could tell her how impolite it is to stare at me this way, another knock at the door echoes and this time I _know_ it's him. Hagrid rises to open and my heart pace goes wild.

"Please don't tell him I'm here." My tone sounds a bit desperate but I couldn't care less at the moment. I bend down a little so that I'm not visible from the door and hear distinctly the cold voice of my father. "Where is my daughter, Hagrid?"

"How would I know?"

"Didn't you see her in the park?"

"Not that I remember." There is a long silence and I wonder if Snape knows he is lying. But after muttering something in his breath, he finally leaves.

"Alice yeh cannot hide here indefinitely, yeh know that righ'?" Hagrid looks uncomfortable and I feel a bit bad that he had to lie to cover me.

"I know." But I don't want to go back to Snape. Actually I never want to see him again.

"Listen, yeh and yer dad seem to have had a row but these things shouldn't last too long. Family is important, yeh know." _That's quite easy to say that when you're not the receiving end of Snape's wrath._ But his words make sense in a way and I ponder on it for a minute. I know I have no choice in this world, no choice but being Snape's daughter. If I want to stay I must accept this truth – along with the consequences that it implies – and deal with it. It is going to be hard but I have a chance to start a new life here, away from my despicable life and world. _I guess I can't ask for a perfect and flawless life, everyone has their own problems_.

"I know you're right." I sniffle a bit. "I know I need to grow up." This last sentence, I've heard it too often in the world I come from, though I'm unable to explain why I've said it just now.

"Thanks for the tea, Mr Hagrid."

"Yeh're very welcome, Alice. Come back whenever yeh want." I rise from the armchair and take a step toward the door. But I realise I can't move farther, my feet struck to the floor. Chewing on my bottom lip, I turn my head to the half-giant who gives me an encouraging nod.

"Do you want me to come with you?" The offer is so unexpected that I stare at the Gryffindor girl with a bewildered expression. I'm certainly frightened to go alone but is it a good idea to go with _her_?

"You would?" _Isn't she afraid of the Dungeons Bat?_

She smiles and I suddenly feel a rush of self-confidence surging through my body. _I won't let Snape frighten me anymore! I'm tired of crying because of him and I'll tell him the truth in its entirety because I'm fed up with this masquerade!_

Taking a deep breath, I walk to the door and I raise my chin in a determined expression. "Okay, I'm ready to go."


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione and I are walking silently on our way back to the castle. She hasn't said a word since we left Hagrid's hut and that's perfectly fine by me. As the hall comes into view, I glance nervously around us, half-expecting Snape to pop up out of nowhere. I am more than willing to have a talk with him but not in the middle of a corridor. The dungeons arrive soon enough as does the door of my father's office.

"Thank you," I acknowledge politely.

"You're welcome." Before I had time to think about my course of action, she knocks at the door. _What is she doing?!_ Almost instantly it slams opened.

"What is it?" Snape barks grumpily.

"I was just accompanying your daughter, sir." Something – surprise maybe? – crosses his face for a second but soon disappears under his usual snide expression.

"I see." He looks down at me and I hold his gaze. "I wasn't aware that she would need such help." His features are unreadable but his voice has softened – in a bad or good way though I cannot tell.

"You may leave now, Miss Granger." The Gryffindor seems reluctant but finally complies. I force myself to remain steady on my feet and not to let my legs shaking. We stare at each other for a long moment as if to see which one would drop his gaze first.

"I apologise for my behaviour, sir." My father lowers his head slightly and I look away.

"Come in." He steps aside, and after giving him a wary look, I enter his office. He leads me to our sitting room and asks me to sit on the couch while he takes one of the armchairs.

"It is I who owe you an apology." My features show astonishment at these words; that is certainly not what I expected. I see his eyes land on my injured hands and I make no attempt to hide them. _It is your doing, after all._

"Come here," he requests. I can't help frowning a little at that and glare at him warily.

He sighs. "You're not in trouble, Alice." Reassured about his intentions, I walk toward him at a slow pace. He takes my hands in his and examines them cautiously.

"I should not have done that to you." _Indeed._ "The Director and I had a short discussion while I was looking for Mr Filch, and I admit having been very upset about it _._ " _I had already gathered as much by myself, thank you very much._ "I took it out on you and that was wrong."

He stops to retrieve a small jar from the inner pocket of his robes and opens it, revealing a thick yellow paste.

"My temper got the best of me and I was not thinking clearly," he continues as he spreads the potion on the back of my left hand. "I did not understand why you were being so clumsy and careless while preparing the wolfsbane potion when you usually were diligent and smart. At first, I assumed that you were simply distracted but then I started to think that you were doing it on purpose."

"I wasn't!"

"Yes, I realise that now," he sighs while healing my other hand. "If I had paid more attention to you, I would have known immediately." I look at him with a confused expression, so he explains. "I should have realised that the blue ivy could have had more side effects on you than I expected. Obviously a single dose of memory-restoring potion was not enough. But Alice, why didn't you tell me anything?"

My eyes meet his and I see a mix of concern and confusion in the Potions master's dark gaze.

"I... I thought you'd be angry," I whisper. _And would no longer want to be my father..._

"You silly girl," he shakes his head. "The only reason I could be angry at you is for not telling me." He lets go of my hand and I notice in amazement that the welts are gone, only replaced by thin, barely visible scars. A wave of contentment and relief surge in my chest and I know that I will be all right.

"I'm sorry I hurt you, child." The words instantly sober me up and I lower my head, a lump forming in my throat.

"You scared me."

"Alice, look at me." I obey and note his serious expression. "It will _not_ happen again." I would like to believe him – I truly want to – but I can't afford to trust him once more.

He hands me a vial and I recognise the blood-red liquid I've drank this morning as a memory-restoring potion. I thank him and uncork it before swallowing the contents. Once again, my vision becomes blurred and memories make their way to my mind at high-speed.

_The room is dimly lit but I can clearly see the tall young woman with silky blond hair and the black-dressed scowling man, and hear them arguing loudly even if I don't understand what they are saying. My tiny fist is clutched to a dirty wet blanket and I'm watching them with big frightened eyes._

_"I won't tolerate you putting a silencing charm around her bed!"_

_"She was being noisy and I couldn't stand it anymore."_

_"That's not a reason to let her cry all night and forget to feed her!"_

_"Stop fussing and pretend that you care, Severus. She's fine."_

_"It was your responsibility to watch over her. One night, Samantha, one single night!"_

_"As you say, it's only one night, she'll survive. And even if she doesn't I couldn't care less, Clarence has two brats of his own, that's certainly enough for the family."_

_"She's your daughter!"_

_"I didn't ask for her and you know it Snape!"_

_"Oh because now that's my fault! I certainly wasn't the one becoming pregnant just after our engagement."_

_"I did what my family wanted me to do, and nobody has never asked you anything! Let my parents do whatever they want with her and stop blaming me!"_

_The woman rushes out of the room, letting the young man alone with me. I whimper a little, catching his attention, and stretch out my arms at him, wanting to be hold._

_"What do you want now, little imp?" he asks with a wry smile, taking me into his arms. "Don't you think you caused enough trouble for the day?" I smile happily at him and snuggle against his chest for I know that I'm safe now._

When I emerge from the memory, the soothing sensation is still present and I look up at my father with hopeful eyes.

"You promise?" I ask in a whisper. Without specifying what I mean, I know he understands that I'm referring to his last sentence.

"I promise." His eyes are sincere, and for the first time, I give him a genuine smile.

 

* * *

 

This day has been a trying one and I want nothing better than going to bed. Getting under my warm sheets and resting my head on the soft pillow, I quickly fall into the arms of Morpheus. However my sleep is disturbed in the middle of the night by a strange nightmare.

_A woman in her thirties is sitting in an armchair, a bottle of cheap wine in her hand._

_"Harmony? Is that you?" Her voice is hoarse and she strongly smells of alcohol._

_I carefully approach her and she avidly brings the neck of the bottle to her mouth, taking slow gulps of the red liquid. When she puts down the bottle at last, her look is haggard and I take a few steps back. A deep sadness overwhelms me and I stare at her with mournful eyes._

_"You said you would stop." No tears roll down my cheeks but my voice is broken._

I struggle a little in my bed but do not wake up.

_The knife blade is glinting in my hand and I observe it for a long moment before slowly bringing it down to my thigh. The sensitive skin whitens, splits and bleed._

I wake up with a start, panting and feeling awfully confused. The dreadful vision of the knife is printed before my eyes. I fully recognise it of course but here in this room, in this castle, it seems totally inappropriate. My breathing calms down after a moment, but a headache starts to grow in my head as memories come and go in my mind, jumbling like a tornado.

_"Gone? What do you mean gone?" An elegant old man with grey hair is sitting in a richly decorated living room, a deep frown on his face. His eyes are directed on a light-haired young man who seems to be in his late twenties._

_"It is like I said Father, she left this morning with the Irish man."_

_"How dare she leave without informing me?" He makes a movement to rise but the old woman next to him puts a hand on his shoulder and he reseats himself with a growl._

_"Now Terence dear, surely she has found something about..."_

_"That's it!" The features of the old man suddenly brighten up and a cunning grin spreads over his lips. "Tell me son, did you sister mentioned anything to you?"_

_"I'm afraid she did not Father. She had a row with Severus not long ago but I don't think that is the reason of her leaving."_

_"She didn't take away our little Alice, did she?"_

_"Not that I'm aware of."_

_Hearing my name, I step back from the door from where I was listening to the conversation but my back bumps on someone and I quickly turn around to see my father._

_"Daddy," I smile cheerfully. It's been so long since I didn't see him._

_"Keep quiet," he whispers, putting a finger on his lips. I nod silently and he takes me in his arms, before walking toward the entrance door of the Selwyn Manor. "You won't be staying here any longer, I will make sure of it." I don't really grasp the meaning of his words but his tone does not bode well. "And she will pay for leaving with that man."_

I stare at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression, trying to remember more about what had happened after that, but all that comes is an uneasy sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Exhausted, I sigh and go back to sleep, trying not to think too much about my lives – both past and present.

 

* * *

 

This morning has been purely and simply awful. First, I had to get up at eight o'clock on a _Sunday_ morning which is totally _inconceivable_ and then as a poor substitute for breakfast, I had a sticky unappetising porridge along with _two_ vials of memory-restoring potions which tasted exactly as disgusting as before. As if it wasn't enough, I was told that I would have to drink two more tonight if my memory wasn't completely restored since then. And when I dared to protest about the unfairness of all this, Snape has given me a threatening glare which would not have been any different if I've blown up the entire castle.

I'm now sitting in my father's office in front of a boring _optional_ Transfiguration essay while Snape is grading students' tests, armed with a red-ink quill.

"I need more books," I declare seriously, after having researched through my transfiguration textbook for an hour.

"I believe I gave you two fifteen minutes ago," Snape replies without looking up.

"There were useless, it wasn't about my subject." This time, he raises his head and frown.

"Have you only opened them at all?" I huff in exasperation, rolling my eyes.

"Of course I had! Why would I be asking otherwise?"

"Mind your tone," he says in a low voice. "Now, I'm busy correcting essays so you will have to wait until I've finished."

"But I could go to the library, it won't take long. Please Father may I go?" The Head of Slytherin seems to consider my request and finally nods.

"Very well, but take only the books you need and don't dawdle."

"Thanks!" I say joyfully, getting up for my chair and running to the door.

"Wait Alice, come here." _What now?_ I walk back to his desk and stand in front of him, refraining myself from sighing before his stern look. "If you aren't back here in half an hour, I'll go to fetch you myself and believe me you will not like it at all."

"Yes, Father," I scowl. _Why does he always have to spoil the fun?_

"You may go now." Without waiting to be told twice, I rush out of the room, grinning widely. _I never thought he would say yes! That's brilliant!_

I climb the stairs until I reach the fourth floor, vaguely remembering where the library is. When I arrive at the entrance though, two young Slytherin girls are blocking the way. I'm going to ask them to move when they turn around at the same moment.

"Alice!" exclaims a blond girl with pretty dark blue eyes. "Where have you been?" She hugs me tightly for a few seconds before releasing me. Her face is familiar and it takes me no time to remember her name and who she is. _My best friend._

"Hi Savannah," I smile. "Long story."

"He caught you, didn't he?" she asks matter-of-factly. The other girl has joined us and is now frowning at me. She is taller than her friend – and me – and looks slightly older.

"Well, yes," I admit.

"Does it have anything to do with Flanders' expulsion?" questions the Slytherin girl.

"How do you know?" _Is the whole school aware already?!_

"Alice!" she exclaims, wearing a reproving expression. "You took some blue ivy as well?!" I feel my cheeks redden a little under her glare.

"Leave her alone, Ashley," says Savannah fiercely. "Snape has probably scolded her enough already." I instantly feel grateful to her, but the mention of my father brings me back to reality. _I must hurry!_

"Oh Alice, I'm so sorry Jake and me didn't wait for you after DADA."

"It's all right," I smile. "I must go now, see you later."

The library is bigger than I thought and I find myself staring at the numerous shelves with fascination. _Wow! This is certainly a great place to study._ Some students are sitting here and there at the tables, reading or talking happily, and I regret not being able to do the same. I look for the Transfiguration section and take the books which sound of interest – and most of them do. Soon, I'm carrying so many that I decide to select some. _Otherwise I'll stay for hours._ I find a table and drop all the books on it.

"You intend to read all these?" I realise that there is someone at the far end of the table and I glance in that direction.

"Why not?" I smile, recognising Harry.

"You're like Hermione," he smiles back, "going to the library on Sunday morning."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Well..."

Hermione chooses this moment to appear from the closest shelf and throws a questioning look at Harry and me.

"Yes," quickly adds the Gryffindor, though it's clear that it was not what he wanted to say.

The teenage girl frowns but simply puts the books she is carrying on the table. I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable in her presence as the last time I saw her is not a memory I want to remember.

"I need to go," I articulate, taking three random books from the pile.

"Alice, wait," calls Hermione, grabbing my arm. "Are you okay?" I notice her side glance towards my hands and instantly feel annoyed.

"I'm fine," I state. "Now please excuse me, I really need to go." Freeing myself from her grasp, I walk out of the library at a fast pace and head to the dungeons.

 _Why does she care anyway? We're not friends. She probably just sees me as Snape's poor, abused little girl. I hate it when people pity me! And I guess she already told all the Gryffindors about it, the telltale!_ I decide then that I don't like Hermione anymore.

Deep in thoughts, I realise that I'm still on the fourth floor and that the clock is ticking. _Oh God, I'm late now!_

Running down the stairs, I hurry to come back to my father's office, hoping that he would not notice my tardiness. _You can always dream_. I have not yet arrived at the door that it opens on itself, revealing an unhappy Potions master. _Uh oh..._

"You are ten minutes late," he hisses in an icy tone.

"I'm sorry, I was..."

"I do not want to hear your excuses, now come in and get down to work before I change my mind." _Phew! Hopefully he's not in a bad mood today. Well, he is, but it could be worse._

I obediently get back to my desk and start reading my new books – well, staring at it would be more accurate. Sighing softly, I look up at my father who is still marking essays. By the expression on his face, it seems as boring as writing it. _Really, doesn't someone in this castle know what the word 'fun' means?_

A few seconds after this thought have crossed my mind, something very strange happens.

The essays Snape is grading begin to fly away from him and swirl around the room like mini maelstroms. Some are even dancing on the desk and I can't prevent myself from bursting out laughing before the funny face of my father. It eventually stops after a short while, and Snape gives me a pointed look although I can see that he's amused. _Somewhat._

"What was this little display of accidental magic all about?" I shrug, unable to erase the cheerful smile from my face.

"I guess I'm bored."

"Now that explains everything," he sneers. "I would rather prefer that you entertain yourself with your own homework." I roll my eyes but grin before addressing him.

"I don't think I should be allowed to do any homework today."

"And why is that?"

"Since I do not have all my memories yet, that's only fair to wait until they're all back."

"Hum, you have a point."

"So I can give up my Transfiguration essay?" I ask, my eyes pleading for a 'yes'.

"That is not what I said."

"But that's not fair..."

"You will write the essay as best as you can and if it is not good enough, then I allow you not to hand it in tomorrow."

"But Father..."

"Quit that whining, the sooner you finish it, the sooner you can do something else." I sigh dramatically and drop my head on the desk.

"And stop sulking," he adds with a wry smile.

"I'm not."

"You could have fooled me." Half-smiling, I reluctantly return to my reading and take some notes on a spare sheet of parchment.

"And if you finish before me, maybe I would reward you by playing a game of that disgusting Gobstones you're so fond of."

"Really?" _I do remember playing that game!_

"That is, if I don't finish grading the students' essays before you finish writing yours."

"You won't!" I immediately start writing on my parchment while my father is shaking his head in amusement – or exasperation. _Or both._

 

* * *

 

An hour later, we are absorbed in a fierce Gobstones game. Although we finished our respective work at about the same time, Snape has said that my essay was quite good and so, agreed to play with me.

"Father, will I really have all my memories back?" I ask all of a sudden after one of the stone has spat a green liquid on me for the third time.

"Of course, you will. The blue ivy has weakened your mind but did not destroy your memories." I nod thoughtfully, my head getting all confused again. I actually remember many things now, but I also have the weird impression to lose as much memories as I recover. The last one has especially disturbed me and keeps playing in my head.

_It's raining outside, and I observe the other children in the courtyard from the window of my room. Their colourful uniforms contrast with the grey sky and the dappled cobblestone of the ground. A dark form is standing at the gate and I screw up my eyes to determine his identity. But unable to see through the rain, I run out of the room and get down the stairs._

_"Looks like your daddy has got to bring you an old mouldy book like every year," mocks a brown-haired girl in a blue and white uniform._

_"Shut it, Kim!"_

_The man is now at the entrance of the building and I easily recognise him as my father, indeed. He has changed a little since the last time I saw him, his hair is longer and less greasy than usual and his eyes wear a spark that was not here before. We make eye contact and I turn around, running back all the way to my room._

_Several minutes later, there is a knock at the door but I don't move from the windowsill where I am seated. The door eventually opens after a moment and I see my father entering the room._

_"Why are you here?" I demand in an imperious voice._

_"I'm here for you."_

_"I don't want your Christmas presents," I spit. "They suck."_

_"Today I didn't bring you any present, because they will be waiting for you at home." I frown._

_"Which home?"_

_"Our apartments at Hogwarts."_

_"I cannot go there."_

_"Yes you can," my father assures. "Because today you are going with me."_

_I tense immediately, not quite believing what I'm hearing, and examine carefully his features._

_"Are you serious?"_

_"Yes, from now on you will be living with me."_

_My eyes grow wide and I stare at him for several minutes, trying to digest the news, understand his motives and most of all, wondering if he really means it._

_"I'll never come back here?"_

_"No, you won't."_

_"Never?" He shakes his head. "Never ever?"_

_He made a gesture as if to touch me but I flinch and retreat at the other end of the room, giving him a murderous glare. He sighs and looks like he wants to say something but changes his mind._

_"I'll pack your things, we are leaving shortly. Where are all your belongings?"_

_I remain silent, simply staring at him with a dark gaze, so he takes a few things from the wardrobe and puts them in my trunk._

_"Is there anything else? Because as I told you, we won't come back to pick up whatever thing you forgot."_

_"It's for real?" I ask in a tiny voice, still not believing him._

_"Yes, it is. Now put your cloak on, it's time to go."_

_"Swear it!"_

_"Don't you trust me, Alice?"_

_"No." I see a flash of pain and sadness crosses his face but he recovers soon and looks at me for a long time, his face as blank as I've always remember it._

_Finally he approaches very close to the spot where I am, and kneels down to be at the same height as me._

_"I swear on my own life that you will never return here, Alice." His face is so serious that I start to think that my dream has finally comes true, that my father has come to get me and that I will leave this boarding school forever. He must have seen the change on my face because he seems to relax a little. But his last two words are as sincere and true-hearted as before._

_"Never ever."_


	6. A Useless Book

Severus had been watching his daughter for a good half hour now, and he could tell she was experiencing a great turmoil of emotions. Recovering memories was not always an easy process and having witnessed emotions such as anger, sadness and fear playing on her face, he wondered which parts of her life she had forgotten.

These last days had been quite unusual, to say the least. It had all started with this strange occurrence of blue ivy leaves, which was by all means very suspicious. The substance was very rare – and expensive – not something that a common student would possess, even he didn't have it in his Potions stores. How could someone – let alone the Hufflepuff boy – leave it unattended in a corridor was beyond him, and if the Headmaster was naïve enough to think that it could be a possibility, Severus was not fooled. The leaves must have been left _on purpose_ by someone who wanted a student – or a specific person – to take them, and he was determined to find out who it was. The fact that his daughter was involved in this was unfortunate, he highly doubted that she had been the target but he didn't want to put aside any assumptions. He still couldn't believe that she had been stupid enough to consume the leaves, it wasn't like her at all, she certainly knew better than trying out an unknown substance.

But the most disconcerting had been her memory loss, which was quite impressive. He had put it on the account of her young age – she was only ten after all – and was just starting to realise how close she had been to suffer permanent injuries, or worse.

He had never wanted a child, so when Samantha had become pregnant, he was at a loss of what to do. He was still deeply mourning Lily and had no time or desire to care for a child – he could barely take care of himself at that time. The Selwyn girl had only been a replacement for his lost friend, and had somewhat consoled his heart, but he knew he could never love her in the way he loved Lily. He was only the shadow of his former self and had no clue about what to do with his life; the Selwyn family had welcomed him even if he was not the pureblood son-in-law they would have wanted for their daughter, the fact that his mother had been a Prince had seemed to make up for it – that and the actual reality that there was not any pureblood heir available after the war. Sam had been a good lover and she knew the pain he was experiencing because she too had lost someone dear to her heart; her twin sister, Alison. Her parents were devastated as their lost child had always been their favourite; they never recovered from her death and were desperate to have grand-children. First, their son Clarence had had two, a boy and a girl, twins as well which Severus had found rather odd, but he was not in the right state of mind to wonder about it.

When it was Samantha's turn to become pregnant, they had been overly delighted and all their attention was focused on their unborn grand-daughter – how they knew it would be a girl though he had no idea – but then again, Severus did not notice the strangeness of all this as he should have.

Alice was a very alert baby and as a toddler she had been advanced for her age, which reminded him a bit of his own self as a child, and he had grown attached to this little girl who called him daddy. However he rarely spent time with her, busy with his teaching duties at Hogwarts and when he came to visit, it was more for Sam than her. Besides, he had no clue about how to raise a child and her grandparents were far too happy to take care of her.

But three years or so after Alice's birth, he had started to realise that unusual things were happening within the Selwyn family, and he was no stranger to it. Dark magic was at work in the manor and that realisation had awakened him like an electroshock, warning him about the true nature of Terence and Penny Selwyn's motives.

Not long after that, Sam had met this good-for-nothing Irish chiromancer who had promised her – and her family – bells and whistles, and all had worsened. The Selwyns had conducted a series of dark experiences – which still gave him goose bumps – and he had started to be concerned for the safety of his daughter. He had tried to reason with Samantha but she would not hear anything, too caught in the web of this charlatan man, Lary O'Kirk.

But on the fateful day of 18th February 1987, she had fled with him and he had completely lost it. She had no right to leave him like this and he had run after her like a madman. But after two weeks, Albus had come to him in the forest of Schwarzwald in Germany – where he thought Sam and the man could be hiding – and had tried to convince him to wait until the summer to resume his searches. Severus had reluctantly accepted – though he was boiling inside him, crying for vengeance – and had decided that his daughter would no longer stay at the Selwyn manor. This family was dangerous, cursed and untrustworthy. He had placed her in secret in the best magical boarding school of Great Britain, where he knew the Selwyns would not look for her. And for more than three years, he has been searching for Samantha during the summers and would visit his daughter during Christmas and Easter holidays.

But a time had come when the Selwyns claimed their custody over Alice, and he had decided to take his daughter with him to Hogwarts. She was almost eight years old at the time, so he could afford to leave her alone in their quarters while he was teaching.

He sighed as the memories floated in his mind. He knew he had been a poor excuse of a father all these years but nothing could change the past now.

To protect her from the influence of her mother's family and fill the need she had as a precocious child, to be _stimulated_ – as the Healers had put it – the Headmaster had agreed to let her start Hogwarts before eleven. She was doing very well – he saw to that – and he was very proud of her.

"Father, it's your turn to play," Alice smiled in front of him.

She seemed to have recovered all her memories and was her usual self again, to his great relief.

These last three days, much to his dismay – and dislike – she had acted like a bloody reckless Gryffindor, talking back to him every chance she had. Merlin, how disrespectful she had been! It had taken a trip over his knees to rectify her behaviour and fortunately she had sobered after that – he didn't know what he could have done if she hadn't. He knew though that he had been unfair with her the previous day, he couldn't help but think that he had not been better than his own father and he hated himself for that. She had been very insecure and it had troubled him. It was true that it had taken some time for Alice to trust him when he had brought her to Hogwarts but this time was over now. His daughter was a confident and smart Slytherin.

"Yes, I realise that." he sneers while taking her last three stones.

Alice's eyes grew wide with astonishment, trying to understand his previous move.

"How did you do that?"

"Rule 54, the frog move if I'm not mistaken." She instantly frowned at him.

"I thought we were playing standard rules."

Severus had to refrain himself from smirking; if something had not changed during these last days, it was his daughter's sulking tendencies.

Noticing her intention to start another game, he decided to test her.

"No, that's enough for today. Go put it back to your room." She looked at him for a few seconds – probably to make sure he meant it – and began to tidy up the pieces.

"Yes, Father." He almost sighed in relief at her reply; Merlin knew he didn't want to deal with a rebellious pre-teen at the moment.

Alice closed the box and headed to the door at the right of their living room.

Back to her room, her eyes fell on an old threadbare book which she didn't quite recognise though she remembered seeing it before. She took it in her hands and opened it, revealing only blank, useless pages, and no title could be seen. Slightly tilting her head on a side, she tried to remember what had been written on the pages, vaguely recalling some sort of instructions.

"Father, how can I know if a book is cursed?" she asked, coming back to the sitting room and putting down the book on the table.

"What makes you think this one is?"

"I cannot read what is written in anymore." Severus got out his wand and examined carefully the strange book, before whispering an incantation in a low and hissing voice that resembled a bit parseltongue.

"Where did you find it?" he asked after a moment.

"In the library, I guess," she shrugged.

"It seems that someone is in need of a new dose of memory-restoring potion," he sneered.

Alice grimaced a little but said nothing, for it was true that the last days were now a big thick fog in her mind.

"It does not contain any dark magic." Snape declared, stroking the binding of the book with his fingers. "You said you could read it before?"

"Yes, I think I asked questions and the book had answered me. Is that possible?"

"It could be," he replied thoughtfully, "maybe it has something to do with your memory loss."

"Why? I don't understand, Father."

"Sometimes, magic reacts in ways we don't expect. I believe this book was made for witches and wizards with special abilities, dispositions or state of mind, allowing them to read and interact with whatever knowledge this book owns. It seems that you don't belong to this category anymore, so its secrets remain hidden from you." His daughter nodded although she was still confused.

"I wonder what this book could have told you," he smiled wryly, as he swept a hair strand which was falling into her eyes off her forehead.

She was about to say something but was stopped by an eagle owl which suddenly came across the room and flew above them for a few seconds, before landing gently on the coffee table.

"Oscar!" Alice exclaimed joyfully, stepping forward to the owl in order to detach the letter.

However, Severus grasped her wrist before she could reach it and frowned as he saw the recipient.

_Alison Selwyn-Snape, Hogwarts_

"Please, let me read it."

"Not before I do." He opened the envelope, unfolding the long letter with a sullen expression and started to peruse it.

Alice stood on tiptoes, trying to see what could be written but her father had obviously no intention of letting her glimpse a single word. "Is it from Grandma?" Getting no answer, she waited quietly for a minute but Severus never seemed willing to take his eyes off the letter.

"Father?" she asked, impatiently.

"Yes, it is from your grandmother," he replied sharply.

"May I read, please?"

Snape approached the fireplace and without warning, threw the missive in the flames. "Always pestering me," he muttered, "the old bat."

Not for the first time, Alice sighed and watched the parchment went up in smokes resignedly.

"It was not important," he assured her before walking briskly toward his private office.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Alison Snape found herself very happy. This whole memory loss ordeal was over and she could at last be herself again, not to mention she could enjoy time with her friends during the day. She was all ready to go to the Great Hall for breakfast but it seemed that her father would never let her go.

"And you are not to go anywhere else than the library or the common room between your classes," he lectured for the third time.

"Yes, Father." She was getting very impatient and was trying not to show it – which was extremely difficult – but considering the results, she wasn't doing a very good job.

"And you are to come back here directly after dinner."

"Because I'm grounded, I know." She let the words slip from her mouth and immediately cursed herself for being so stupid.

"And that is for a good reason," Severus said sternly, "you almost killed yourself four days ago."

Changing strategy, she wore a contrite expression and fidgeted her feet nervously, before looking down at them. "I'm really sorry."

"Off with you, now," his father sighed, waving towards the door.

Alice smiled and put her school bag on her shoulder before quickly exiting the dungeons. She climbed the stairs but did not go directly to the Great Hall, making a detour to the Ravenclaw Tower. When she saw the tightly winding spiral staircase, she waited at its bottom, her eyes searching for familiar faces. After several minutes, two young students acknowledged her and came to her side, holding hands while walking.

"Hi, Alice," said the girl, her features strangely passive. "We were worried about you."

Her voice was very soft and slow, and she threw a glance at her brother who looked exactly like her. They both had short light hair and very fair, almost translucent skin; they could have been ever so pretty if it wasn't for the creepy glow of their pale blue eyes.

"Emmy, Zachary, I have so many things to tell you," Alice whispered, gesturing them to stand back from the main corridor, where the Ravenclaw students were chatting on their way to the Great Hall.

They retreated in a small alcove on the fifth floor and began talking in a low voice as the Slytherin explained what had transpired during the last days.

"You've lost your memories?" asked Zachary in a slightly surprised voice.

"That's awful," added his sister, though her face was still as passive as before. "That wasn't expected."

"I know, maybe we should ask Granny about it," Alice frowned. "By the way, Grandma wrote to me yesterday, probably to invite me to come for the holidays."

"I hope you'll come," replied her cousin with a hint of a smile that didn't reach her eyes, while her brother nodded. "Has anything else out of the ordinary happened otherwise?"

"I don't think so," said the youngest. "Well, Father is mad at me for taking the leaves because he says that was very dangerous."

"Granny had tested the substance before, it was not."

"Yes, but he doesn't know that." They stayed silent for a few seconds before Zachary pointed out that they must hurry if they didn't want to miss breakfast, and so they made their way downstairs.

After briefly saying goodbye to each other, they separated at the Great Hall in order to sit at their respective tables. Alice seated herself with the Slytherins, beside her best friend who greeted her joyfully and started to tell her about the weekend. She listened to Savannah for a while without talking much, drinking her glass of pumpkin juice and glancing occasionally at the High Table, where she could see the Potions master scowling deeply at the students.

"... and Violet was always badgering me about studying at the library. Anyway, isn't your birthday soon?" Alice raised her head from her plate and stared at her friend for a second, having obviously forgotten this detail.

"Yes, it's in two weeks," she replied in an excited tone, as if being eleven was the greatest event on earth. "During the holidays."

"Why don't you come at my house? I could invite Jake and the twins too, I'm sure my parents won't mind."

"I don't know, I must ask my father." She looked over the High Table once more but quickly lowered her eyes. "I'm sure he'll say no."

 

* * *

 

Severus was closely observing his daughter from the teacher's table and was currently fuming. He was not happy about the fact that she had been absent from the Slytherin table when he had arrived in the Great Hall. Although he was annoyed at first, he assumed that she had met her friends in the common room before breakfast – despite his instructions – and decided to overlook this slight disobedience. But when he noticed her with the two Selwyn brats, he saw red. He could not bear the twins, which reminded him of Samantha and her dreadful family, but unfortunately Alice liked her cousins very much and he dared not forbid her to see them. However, he always encouraged her to spend time with students from her own house, so that she would not be too influenced by Clarence's spawn – thanks Merlin they ended up in Ravenclaw.

He noticed that she was talking with the Welson girl – no real surprise here – but strangely enough, the eldest of the Aston siblings was nowhere to be seen. The three of them were generally together, getting into trouble more often than not, and while Severus was not happy about it, he knew how his Slytherins were prone to mischief – though he admitted that the Gryffindors were first at this game. His daughter could be a little devil at times but seemingly no child could be perfect, and he knew she was trying hard to please him.

He was got out of his thoughts when he saw Alice and her friend rise from their bench and exiting the Great Hall. Deciding that a reminder was much needed, he followed them and reaching the Entrance Hall, he called out his daughter. The guilty look on her face confirmed him that she perfectly knew why he wanted to talk to her.

"What did I say to you this morning?" he scolded, after leading her away for the students.

"To go directly to the Great Hall but I wanted to see my cousins, I have no common class with Ravenclaw today."

"That is no excuse," he said sharply. "You'd better behave yourself from now on... Or else."

"I will, Father," she replied politely.

"Good girl," Snape sneered. "I'll see you tonight." He swiftly left toward the dungeons – frightening some first-years who were heading to their classes on the way – his dark robes billowing around him.

Alice walked back to her friend with a scowl on her face, unhappy about her father's admonition.

"What did he want?"

"Remind me to be good, as usual," she answered sulkily.

"And as usual, you are," Savannah smiled mischievously.

"Of course," laughed Alice, regaining her playful mood.

Transfiguration was the first class of the day for the Second Year Slytherins and Gryffindors, so they headed to Professor McGonagall's classroom. Some students were already waiting in the corridor including a sloppy Slytherin brown-haired boy who looked like he had just awakened.

"Hey, look who's back," he taunted when he caught sight of his two classmates.

"Last time I saw you was three days ago," smiled Alice.

"It looked like an eternity" he yawned. "I was starting to wonder if Snape hadn't transformed you into potions ingredients."

"Jake..."

"Come on, give me your bag." The youngest handed it to her friend like she used to, as for some reason he always insisted to carry it, not that she minded. "That's true," he continued, "I didn't even know the effect of..." At this point he lowered his voice. "You-know-what."

"Why didn't you tell him Savannah?" asked Alice in a reproachful tone as the teacher arrived.

The blonde girl shrugged, not embarrassed in the slightest. "I forgot." Jake threw her a dark look and entered the classroom, not bothering to wait for his friends.

"Really, he's too susceptible," declared the Slytherin girl, rolling her eyes.

"I'll go sit with Jake, all right?" Her friend made a grumbling sound but did not object.

The class went well, Alice managed to obtain an Outstanding for her last essay and couldn't wait to tell her father about it.

"What's your grade, Jake?" The boy seemed very disappointed about his result and was scowling over his parchment. "E." The professor McGonagall was passing near their table and she waited until she was far enough to speak again.

"That's not bad," she assured, "what's the problem?"

"I wanted an O." His almond eyes wore a dull glow and Alice didn't know what to do to comfort her friend, she wasn't good at that.

"You'll get one next time," she offered softly.

"Leave me alone," he spat, pretending to concentrate on the lesson.

They didn't talk for the rest of the class as Alice was resentful to her friend for speaking to her in such a rude manner. She loved Jake, he was her best friend along with Savannah but she had done nothing to deserve this.

The remaining of the day wasn't much better and she decided to do something about it because she couldn't bear to be on bad terms with her friends, especially when she didn't even have a clue as to why in the first place. As she was heading to the dungeons and trying to make up a plan, she thought that hopefully, tomorrow would be a better day.


	7. A Strange Dream

It was a cold evening at Hogwarts on this day of December, the sky was dark but the half-moon was shining brightly over the black lake. Wrapped in their thick winter cloaks, the students were hurrying toward their respective common rooms to warm themselves by the fire. In the dungeons, it was more around a cauldron than a fireplace in the Potions master's quarters that he and his daughter were warming up.

"Here is the passiflora powder, Father."

"You may put it in the cauldron," Snape instructed while stirring a bubbling liquid. "Can you guess what it is?"

"A sleeping potion?"

"Not exactly, but you are close. This potion makes the one who drink it feel sleepy, but it only has a drowsiness effect and enables the person to be awakened, unlike a sleeping potion which drifts off the one who takes it into a deep several hours sleep."

"Who does need this potion, Father?"

"The Headmaster," Snape replied slowly, as if it was a secret.

Alice nodded in understanding and watched silently her father brew the potion for several minutes, thinking about the best way to ask him if she could see her friends during the Christmas break. Usually they just stayed together at Hogwarts for a quiet holiday. She would help him to brew potions or prepare ingredients – something she liked very much as it was a good way to spend quality time with her father – and he would advise her on her homework and even teach her some cool spells if she was lucky. Maybe this year she could go to Selwyn Manor – even if she knew the letter she received earlier had not been a very good omen – as it was her favourite place in the world. She had loved to play hide-and-seek there with her cousins when she was little, but of course now she was almost eleven and Emmy said that hide-and-seek was a game for babies. And one of the things she hated the most was to be called a baby, so she would certainly not play that any time soon.

"Father, I was wondering if I could do something for my birthday this year," she spoke in a low voice. Severus did not reply at first and she feared that he would refuse, stressing about how much she had misbehaved lately, but he surprised her when he finally talked.

"I guess you could invite a few friends if you wish."

"Really?" she smiled happily. "And the twins too?"

"I said your friends, not your cousins."

"But why?" she frowned.

At this moment, there was a knock at the entrance door of their quarters, preventing Snape from answering. He sent her to see who it was and she obeyed although she was not happy about his lack of response.

It was past curfew – a time when the Slytherins generally did not bother their Head of House – so when Alice opened the door, she wasn't expecting a student, especially not the one in front of her.

"Hi," said the Gryffindor boy with a scar on his forehead.

"What do you want?" Alice asked, staring at him.

"Professor McGonagall said I could ask Snape if I needed a potion to sleep and... I need one tonight." Harry was clearly not at-ease which was understandable as this was the den of his most hated teacher.

"Why don't you go to the Hospital Wing?"

"Because Madam Pomfrey already gave me a sleeping potion yesterday and said I couldn't have another one before two days."

"If that is the case, my father will not give you a potion either."

"Maybe you can ask him?"

"And why would I do that?"

Professor Snape chose this moment to appear from his lab and refrained himself from sighing as he saw the Potter boy standing at his door. What on earth was he doing here and at this hour of all time?

"To what do I owe the honour of your presence in my office, Mr Potter?" He saw the teenager jumped slightly at his words and his lips curled into a sneer.

"He wants you to give him a sleeping potion," Alice answered before the Gryffindor had time to do so himself.

Severus studied the boy for a little while and had to admit that he was looking a bit ill. His eyes were dull and his complexion was more pallid than it used to, signs that he could recognise easily.

It was clear that Potter would not have come to ask _him_ for a potion if he could have got it from someone else, which meant that Madam Pomfrey had refused to give him one and there was only a single explanation to it.

"When was the last time you took this kind of potion?" he demanded suspiciously.

"Some… some days ago."

"Do not lie to me, Potter," he threatened in a deadly voice. "How many did you drink this week?"

"Yesterday, and the day before," he admitted "and… well."

"I see," Snape said in an icy tone, "and may I know who gave them to you?"

"I… er, had them from Madam Pomfrey."

"You are a terrible liar, Potter." The boy blushed a little and looked away from his professor's dark eyes. "And it appears that you are a thief as well." His words were not welcomed as he saw the Potter brat clenched his fists.

"Come in."

He did not bother to check if the boy would obey and turned around with a swirl of his robes before he hurried to his potions lab.

Harry threw a look at Alice who was still holding the handle of the door, examining him like if he was a bacterium under a microscope. Her gaze was nothing like her father's although it was making him uncomfortable. She eventually opened the door wide to let him enter and he warily did so, almost jumping when it swung closed.

Snape returned quickly and handed him a vial containing a deep blue liquid and encouraged him to drink it, but Harry was not willing to cooperate without knowing what it was.

"This, Mr Potter, is a lethal draught that will make you spew your bowels one by one and agonise for long hours before finally die in an excruciating suffering."

Alice was preventing herself from laughing when she noticed that the Gryffindor was becoming paler than before and her smile faded.

"You're not funny, Snape," he spat angrily.

"Now, look at yourself Potter! Obviously you are craving for a sleeping potion because you have taken too many in a short period of time and your body has developed an addiction to it."

Why would the annoying brat need such thing remained to be known and he was determined to find out. It was he who provided the potions for the Hospital Wing after all and he was not going to let its stores be ransacked by an unruly dunderhead.

"You're wrong, I'm not addicted."

"I beg to differ on this point, Potter," he replied quietly. "And I suggest that you take the potion I gave you, it has some similar effects to a sleeping potion and will help you to calm down."

Harry hesitated for a moment but finally drank the vial, instantly feeling dizzy and shadows began to dance in front of his eyes. Severus watched as the teenager staggered and had just time to conjure a chair before the stupid boy started to fall on the floor. He had expected him to feel sleepy but not to actually fall asleep in _his_ quarters. The nerve of the boy! His daughter was laughing softly and he admitted to himself that the situation had escaped his hands.

"Well, instead of giggling maybe you can tell me why Potter has just made a fool of himself?"

All he received was a shrug and directing his eyes to the sleeping teen, he sighed as he wondered what to do with him. An addiction was nothing to be left unmonitored especially when talking about Albus's Golden Boy. He was surprised that Poppy had not notified him of the decreasing level of the Hospital's sleeping potions, considering that students regularly asked for it. If she was not capable of keeping an eye on her stores or detecting a potion's addiction, he knew this would fall into his hands sooner or later. Potter must have been exhausted if the light draught he had given him could have such a spectacular effect – he was lucky he had been making a new batch of it for Albus – and maybe it would not be wise to wake him. He cursed himself as this thought crossed his mind – like if he cared for the boy – but it was running late and he was quite tired himself. He will have to report the incident to Minerva and the last thing he wanted was a tedious conversation with the women at this hour of the day.

That is why several minutes later, he found himself transfigurating the couch of his private sitting room into a bed and levitating the Potter brat to settle on it. Hopefully he would sleep quietly until morning and wouldn't cause any more trouble. He noted that the boy was still wearing his uniform and that it might not be very comfortable for him to sleep like this, but he was being generous enough by letting him sleep in his office. He was not a bloody Hufflepuff for Merlin's sake!

 

* * *

 

_It was dark. Hooded figures were gathered in semicircle around a tall, slender one, which emanated a maleficent aura. The silent scene was taking place in an old cemetery, witness of an eerie ceremony._

_An indistinct lump was lying on the floor, inert like a rock. A sudden scream broke the silence and a green light jetted from nowhere._

_Hissing sounds could be heard and the tall man in the middle of the others began to pace slowly. As his hood slipped down from his head, his face became visible, revealing a snake-like face with diaphanous skin and scary red glowing eyes._

' _Harry Potter,' he murmured._

Alice woke up from her dream, panting and frightened. She sat on her bed and brought her knees to her chest, glancing fearfully around the room. She was not sure about what this nightmare was about but she knew she wanted her father right now, so she left her bedroom and headed to Severus's.

In order to get there, she had to pass through the sitting room, and while doing so she could hear the Gryffindor moaning in his sleep. She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at his approximate location, unable to see him in the dark. But soon enough, she continued on her way and reached her father's bedroom door. She knocked softly and entered.

"Father?" Her voice was no more than a whisper but after a moment, the man finally awoke. He cast a lightening charm and acknowledged his daughter, who was trembling a little.

"Alice?" he called with a worried voice. "What happened?"

"I don't know, I saw a man with red eyes and scary hooded people and I couldn't see their faces and..."

"Shh, come here," he motioned for her to get closer, "and slow down."

"I was in a graveyard and there was a man who looked like a snake, I think he was…" She glanced towards his left arm and shivered.

Snape's face darkened. He actually wondered why his daughter would suddenly dream of something like this, the Dark Lord was defeated before she was born and he never talked to her about him.

"It was only a nightmare," he reassured her.

"No it wasn't, it was real."

"Alice, how could it be real?"

"I dunno but what if it was really… Him?" she whispered. Severus sighed to himself and made her sit next to him on the bed, where she relaxed a bit. After having heard a fully described version of her nightmare – and it being repeated that it was _not_ a dream – he started to ponder over the possibility that it could be a vision of some sort. He knew that Alice's great-grandmother was a seer and although his daughter had never shown any sign that she had inherited this particular trait, it was not impossible that she had. The Dark Lord's description she had given did not fit the picture he remembered but then, if he returned – and Severus had no doubt it could happen – his appearance would probably be altered.

"If the Dark Lord ever manages to come back, I will be here to protect you," he promised. "And for the time being, it is not something you have to worry about."

She nodded and he gently patted her head before sending her back to her room. On the way, Alice glanced at Harry and she mused about the fact that he was the last person to have seen He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named alive, and it was a rather disturbing thought.

 

* * *

 

"No, you are not allowed to take any sleeping potion for at least a month, Potter," declared Snape in this early morning.

"But I need them, professor."

"I know you may feel this way but it is not advisable to drink any more than you already have. Your Head of house will be informed as well as Madam Pomfrey and I _will_ keep an eye on you, Potter." The tone was all but gentle and Harry felt like snapping at his teacher, yet he refrained himself.

At the same moment, the Potions master's daughter rushed out of her room and briefly greeted her father before exiting their sitting room. Severus frowned and was about to call her back but finally decided against it and released the boy as well.

Harry quickly followed Alice and caught her up.

"Please, I need your help," he whispered. "I will do everything you want if you can get me some sleeping potions." The Slytherin girl stared at him with a surprised expression and he saw a glint of interest crossed her eyes.

"I want to see your scar." Now it was his turn to be startled as he had not been expecting this request. He lifted his fringe and she smiled.

"Can I touch it?"

"Er… okay."

The sensation of her hand on his forehead was a weird one. He could not remember anyone – except from him of course – touching his scar before and he didn't know how he felt about it.

"Maybe I can steal one from my father's stores," she said in a low voice, "but not today, it would be too suspicious." Harry sighed but recognised that she was right.

"How was it to face You-Know-Who?" she asked curiously.

"I don't want to talk about that!"

"All right," she said in an offended tone. "Keep your secrets."

They separated as they were now outside Snape's apartments and because none of them wanted to be seen in the company of the other. Alice hurried towards the Slytherin common room, a cunning smile on her face. When she arrived, there were only a few students as it was still early and she headed directly to her dormitory.

All of her five classmates were awake and preparing for the day. The tallest one was arranging her skirt, another reading her notes, two were mutually brushing their hair, and the last one was still in bed, yawning. The oldest girl – who had finished with her skirt – acknowledged Alice first and gave her a friendly smile. Her short hair was perfectly well-groomed and she looked much mature than her roommates, especially because of her self-important features.

She gave her a disapproving look when she saw her half-loose tie and swiftly came next to her in order to rearrange it correctly.

"I can't believe professor Snape let you go like this."

"Ashley…," the youngest growled, trying to escape from her grip.

"Honestly Alice, you really have to learn to do it yourself."

Once the other girl had finished fussing over her, Alice immediately went to see her best friend, who was brushing the hair of a very pretty brunette girl, and whispered some hasty words in her ear. Savannah nodded enthusiastically and chuckled before turning to the other girl – who was holding the mirror – and repeated what she had heard to her in the same way. The last one agreed and they hurriedly left together under the puzzled gazes of the other girls.

They went to the corridor opposite their dormitory and listened to the keyhole of the second door.

"Can you hear him?" Alice asked, excited.

"Shush! Wait…" answered her friend who was concentrated.

They stayed at the door for a couple of minutes, when suddenly Savannah smiled mischievously. "It's his turn."

"Come on!"

"Just a few more seconds." Alice was getting very impatient but she waited until her friend gave the signal, throwing her a questioning look.

Finally, Savannah nodded and the brown-haired girl ran towards the main corridor, while she opened the door of the boys' dorm and started shouting.

"Guys, Rebecca fell down the stairs, she needs help!"

As she expected, all heads turned in her direction and the boys made their way into the corridor with an astounding rapidity. Alice shared an amused look with her best friend and slipped into the deserted dorm. There was a sound of running water coming from the bathroom and she silently walked to its door, pushing it ajar. Preventing herself from laughing, she murmured an _Accio_ , which brought her the bath towel lying on a washbasin. She caught it and flicked her wand in the direction of the shower. There was a scream followed by a second one and a wet boy emerged from the bathroom, half-hidden behind the door.

"Is that what you are looking for, Jake?" Alice laughed, indicating the towel in her hand.

"Give it back!"

"No."

"You threw ice water at me, didn't you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she stated though she wasn't in the slightest.

"Stop that and give me my towel!"

"I will but there is a condition."

"Which is?"

"That you stop being angry at me," she replied seriously. "I don't even know why you're acting like that. What did I do to you?"

"Agreed," he declared, stretching his hand and she gave him what he wanted.

"And for my second question?" The only response she got was a slamming door and she rolled her eyes. Boys were not exuberant when it came to their feelings, she knew that.

After several minutes, the Slytherin boy stepped out of the bathroom, wearing his uniform and grabbed his school bag.

"Leave me alone," he mumbled.

"You said you'll stop being grumpy," Alice smiled, clinging to his arm, leading him in the corridor.

"Give me your bag," he said, eluding the subject.

In the common room, there was a small group of boys surrounding their classmate, Rebecca, who was radiant, her beautiful grey eyes shining with delight. Obviously she was overjoyed to be the centre of attention.

"Thank you for carrying me Tommy, you're so adorable," she simpered. "You too, Alexander."

Catching sight of them, Savannah winked at her friend and came to join them, leaving the other girl with her admirers.

"How was your shower?" she sneered.

"You shut up."

"No need to be rude, it wasn't even my idea for once." Hearing that, Jake glanced furiously at Alice and pushed her away from him, almost making her fall on the floor.

"You would have sulked for ages," she defended herself, still smiling.

"You're wrong, I wanted to talk to you this morning."

"Sure."

They found their way to the greenhouses where they had Herbology with the Ravenclaws which Alice enjoyed a lot as she could see her cousins, who were in their second year as well.


	8. Slytherin Ways

"Was it that scary?"

Alice nodded, remembering vividly her dream from last night.

"Have you recognised anyone?" Emmy asked curiously. "Or the place, perhaps?"

"No, I didn't."

"I know!" Savannah exclaimed all of a sudden. "The blue ivy gave you that gift!"

"What gift?"

"Foresee the future, of course! That's so exciting!"

"You would not say that if you were the one who had a nightmare." Alice grimaced. It was after lunch and she had been detailing her dream to her friends, trying to make sense of it.

"Granny never said anything about it," pondered Zachary in a doubtful voice, glancing at his twin sister. "But it's not impossible."

Jake, who was twisting his tie between his fingers, raised his head. "What did she say again?"

" _A boy and a girl from different age and lineage will be actors of the change, the azure of dreams will guide one of them provided that their bloods would be mingled. She will be gold and he will be bronze because only eternal knowledge can see the former paradigm_."

"Yeah, I feel so enlightened now," declared Savannah seriously before leaning against the banister of the stairs they liked to sit in, and burst out laughing, quickly followed by Jake.

"Do you think Granny could have misinterpreted it?" wondered Alice, throwing an annoyed glance at her best friends.

The twins exchanged a look, though their fair blue eyes remained inexpressive. "I don't think so."

"You and Clayton are not of the same age and you are from totally different families as his parents were muggle-born. The azure of dreams is obviously the blue ivy and you are both halfblood, if that is what 'mingled' means. Gold and bronze stand for 'blond' and 'red-haired' which are the colours of eternity and I guess 'former paradigm' could be linked to visions."

"That makes sense."

"So what do we do now?"

Savannah wrinkled her nose, like she did every time she was thinking hard, and drummed her fingers on the metallic railing of the staircase, causing a rattling noise. On the above step, Alice was sitting cross-legged, observing a bored Jake sprawled across the stairs. His uniform was shabby and the soles of his shoes were worn due to his constant shuffling. No better were his hair which didn't seem like it had been brushed for several months but was fortunately straight as chopsticks and no longer than his jaw. The Head of Slytherin did not approve at all of his scruffy appearance and summoned the boy to his office countless times about it.

But in Alice's opinion, it made him look like an adventurer back from some dangerous trips in the jungle and it amused her to think that.

"Maybe we should write to Granny," she suggested while her cousins nodded in agreement.

After searching for a quill and some parchment in her schoolbag, she laid it on her knees and started writing.

_Dear Granny,_

_The twins and I did what you wanted us to do and we are wondering if it has worked._

_Last night, I had a very strange dream which I think could be a vision of the future, but otherwise nothing had happened. Please tell us if we did it right, I don't want to disappoint you._

_With all my affection,_

_A.S_

She let Emmy and Zachary read the letter before folding it and rose to her feet.

"I'd better send it now and go back to the dungeons." She waved at her friends and walked swiftly to the owlery.

When she arrived at the entrance, another student bumped into her and almost managed to get her down. She fiercely glowered at him, not wanted to let herself be walked over by the others but her features changed as she recognised who it was.

"How is my favourite little firsty?" Draco Malfoy smiled, waving away a strand of hair from his face in a calculated gesture. Alice smiled back.

"I am not a first year anymore."

"You still look like one," he taunted. "Anyway, I thought I told you to ask your father about the Quidditch pitch, didn't I?" His voice now wore an accusing tone. "Because of you the Gryffindor's team had it! I can still see the satisfied look of Saint Potter."

"I'm sorry Draco," she apologised shyly. "I forgot."

"Don't do that again." Alice shook her head and the boy regained his friendly smile. "Are you coming to encourage me on Saturday?"

"Of course, I will."

"See you there then, little firsty," he winked.

Alice watched him go until she couldn't see him and turned to choose an owl. That is when she spotted a black figure far off and hurried to attach the letter for her great-grandmother.

Once that was done, she exited the owlery as innocently as she could and saw unsurprisingly her father made his way in her direction. She took a deep breath and prepared herself from the storm that was coming.

As soon as she was within his reach, he snatched her arm without warning in a rough grip and threw a very displeased look toward his daughter.

"What are you doing here?" He snapped. "And to whom were you sending a letter?"

"It wasn't mine," she replied a little too fast. "Savannah asked me to send it for her."

"Really? And why couldn't she send it herself?"

"It was urgent and she didn't want to go so… I just said I will do it."

Severus did not appear convinced in the slightest by this explanation and narrowed his eyes.

"Do you know what I think of liars Alice?"

"Yes, Father." Her voice sounded remarkably confident but she hoped that her face was not betraying her.

"And do you know what will happen if I find out that you've been lying to me?" There was a small pause and Alice cautiously avoided the potions master's glare. Yes, she perfectly knew, but she was certainly not going to admit that she had been writing to her Granny without telling him because the punishment for _that_ would be much worse.

"I do, Father."

"Now, if I was to tell you that the owls are subjected to control this year because of Sirius Black, wouldn't you have something to tell me?" Alice tensed at first – for this could very well be faithful – but chose to believe the more plausible truth that her father was trying to make her confess by spitting out false statements. He had used this trick too many times on her and she could recognise a trap when she saw one.

"No, Father." The fugitive glow of deception that crossed his eyes confirmed her that she was right. They could be two to play this game. But this did nothing to improve his mood however and it was all she could do not to fidget under his piercing look.

"You are going to your room, right now!" He snapped his fingers in the opposite direction of the owlery and she complied, putting as much distance as possible between him and herself. Actually she was quite lucky that he hadn't emphasised the fact that she was supposed to be in their quarters hours ago since she didn't have any classes this afternoon.

On their way down to the dungeons, she had to run to keep up with her father's pace, who was not waiting for her, but she knew better than to linger behind. Yet, when she noticed her Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, she slowed down and stopped to talk to him.

"Hello, professor," she greeted politely.

Lupin seemed equally pleased to see his student and indulged her with one of his gentle smiles.

"Good afternoon, miss. How are you doing today?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Professor, may I ask you what would be the subject of next class?"

"We'll study the disarming charm. Have you heard of it?"

"Yes a little, from my father, but I never tried to perform this spell. I can't wait for your next lesson!"

"I'm glad you are so enthusiastic about it. I am going to look for some old wands you can use to practice, or I hope than I can find some."

"I could help you if you wish," offered Alice in a mannerly way.

"That is very welcomed," thanked Lupin. "Would you accept to come to my office tomorrow at 8pm?"

"I would be delighted, professor."

They were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing his throat. Snape was scowling at them, arms crossed across his chest, a morose expression on his face.

"Are you so incapable that you need the help of a ten-year old little girl to prepare your lessons, Lupin?" He sneered. "You are even more pathetic than I thought." Alice sulked over the term he had used to describe her but said nothing.

Remus sighed and hesitated to respond. But even if he had wanted to, he had no time because Severus had turned on his heels and dragged his daughter along with him before he could speak a single word.

Once they were back in the dungeons, Snape slammed the door of his office. Alice knew she had displeased him but she hadn't expected her father's hand to land on her backside. Twice.

"I've had enough of you putting on airs with the werewolf!" She felt her cheeks blushed slightly but she could not deny acting a bit around her professors, and if her father did not generally mind it – he was rather pleased in fact – Professor Lupin was the exception.

He was going to continue his scolding when the fireplace lighted and the head of Albus Dumbledore popped up, his blue eyes twinkling merrily as always.

"Severus, can I have a word with you please?"

"Of course, Headmaster," he agreed somewhat disgruntled. "Would you prefer to talk in the sitting room?"

"Certainly, my boy."

The potions master waved at his daughter to leave and she gladly cooperated while the old wizard stepped out of the fireplace and followed his youngest professor to the adjacent room.

Albeit she did make it to her room, Alice stuck her ear on the keyhole to catch some snatches of conversation as soon as she went there. Much to her disappointment there was nothing to be overheard, thanks to one of her father's spell she could say. Well, she didn't want to be in trouble anyway, she decided as she briefly rubbed her bum. The smacks had not hurt that much but there was still a slight discomfort and she settled on her bed with a textbook.

She liked studying quite a lot, especially potions and charms which were her favourite subjects but magic was not the only thing she was interested in. During the years when she had lived at the magical boarding school her father had placed her in, she had learnt French and Latin, both hard and challenging languages. But she liked it – it made her feel intelligent too – and the latter was useful for spells. Whilst she was reading the page on the _expelliarmus_ spell, a scene flashed in front of her eyes, starling her.

_A muggle residential area and… cars? There were dazzling lights and loud noises, screams… and then nothing. Complete darkness._

This sudden occurrence made her groggy and she blinked several times, taking deep breath to soothe the frantic beating of her heart. Something was amiss, she could sense it. What she saw hadn't been a memory because the environment had not been familiar to her, and she was pretty sure she had never set a foot there although she could not ascertain it. She had never really gone for a trip in the muggle world and knew very little about it. It was curious and she wondered if this could be caused by the experiment.

There was a distant noise and she distinctly heard her name being called. By the sound of the voice, her father was not angry anymore which prompted her to reach the sitting room.

"Hello, professor Dumbledore," she greeted when she saw him, sipping tea from a nicely decorated cup.

"How are you dear child?" The Headmaster put down his cup on the saucer and they exchanged a few words, until Snape motioned for her to sit next to him on the sofa. A big teapot matching Dumbledore's teacup moved on its own accord and came to fill up the cup that was in front of her when she did.

"No, sir," she spoke as he asked if she had any difficulties in class. "I received an Outstanding on my last transfiguration essay." As she said so, she glanced at her father, who nodded in approval, his eyes wearing a gleam of unconcealed pride.

"I don't believe that I made a mistake by accepting you as a student before the required age."

Severus glared at Albus, defying him to say more about the subject.

"However, I got wind of an incident that concerns you." His tone was now serious. "Do you see what I am referring to?"

Alice shook her head, not meeting his eyes.

"It appears that you met with Mr Flanders a few days ago, and took a dangerous substance together." The old man had said it in a calm voice and waited until she met his eyes. "Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Could you tell me from where these leaves came from?"

"I don't know."

"You see, something intrigues me." He paused to add a spoon of sugar in his tea. "I was not under the impression that you were friend with him. Am I mistaken?"

"No, you are right sir." There was clearly no point in lying about this, especially after what some Slytherins had done to him.

"Why did you associate yourself with him if that is not the case?"

"I was just helping him after he was bullied by my classmates, that's all."

"That was very generous of you, indeed." She shrugged, aware of the two pairs of eyes on her.

"I know what it's like."

The headmaster continued to sip his tea – somewhat noisily – for a moment while his potions teacher was starting to be annoyed, his fingers tightening around his own cup.

"Then we found it and decided not to tell anyone," Alice eventually said.

"And you thought it could be a good idea to try it?"

"It sounded like one at the time." Snape glared at her. "But it wasn't," she added hastily.

"Did you know what kind of properties this plant has?"

"No, I did not."

"I see." She wanted to ask what it was that he could see but she kept her thoughts to herself. Dumbledore was not someone she liked particularly although he had never given her any reason to dislike him, quite the contrary actually.

"This is important, Alice," he insisted. "If you know something, you must tell us."

"I've already told you everything."

The two wizards exchanged a glance, one she did not understand, and her father seemed ready to say something but the headmaster spoke before him.

"Very well, but if you remember anything else, please come to see me in my office."

"Of course, sir." She smiled.

"Now Severus, tell me about the programme for the N.E.W.T.s this year." Dumbledore had regained his joyful tone and was chatting happily as if the awkward conversation had not happened.

Alice was relieved it was over because she did not like to lie to her father – not that it prevented her from doing it regularly – but she had no choice.

The adults were now talking about things she was not interested in, and she peered at the plate of biscuits on the coffee table, taking two. They were vanilla biscuits, her favourites.

"This will mean that the students would learn about this potion in sixth year," remarked the oldest wizard.

Alice glimpsed at her father and took another biscuit that she threw into her mouth, eating it as quickly as the other two. She discreetly tried to pick one more but Severus stopped her.

"That is quite enough for today," he stated.

His daughter replied by sighing heavily and folded her arms across her chest, but he ignored her completely.

The headmaster left after a while, wishing them a pleasant evening. Snape almost smiled in front of his little girl's attitude who was still sulking.

"All right, you can have a last one."

Alice's face instantly brightened up and she bent to grab a handful of biscuits that were within her reach.

"I said one," he admonished in an exasperated voice.

But all he received was a mischievous look before she stuck out her tongue at him and ran away, laughing.

"Insufferable brat," the potions master complained, shaking his head. "Wait until I get my hands on you." It was an empty threat of course and he just let her go, thinking that he was not looking forward to her teenage years.

After monitoring some potions that were simmering in his laboratory, he went checking on her. She was reading in their private living room, her legs pulled against her chest. He recognised the book on her knees as one of the French learning books he had bought her last summer.

"Have you been practising?"

"Yes, but I have nobody to talk to."

"Draco can speak French quite well, he could probably help you."

"Really?" She was surprised because the blond teenager had never said anything about it to her, but they were not close friends after all. "Do you think he would like to?"

"I will talk to him."

Alice smiled at that for she knew Draco would never refuse anything to his Head of house.

"Father, may I go to the Quidditch match on Saturday?" Severus raised an eyebrow and she gave him her best puppy-eyes look. "Please."

"I do not recall you being particularly well-behaved to deserve this reward."

She was really good at throwing him this look but needless to say that he was not the type to give in to her whims – though it had worked on a few occasions.

"I know that you have not been honest with the Headmaster earlier."

The room was silent as he watched her closed the book and put it aside, a thoughtful expression displayed on her face. He could see that she was having an internal debate and he waited patiently until she reached her decision.

"I cannot tell, I promised not to."

"To whom did you make this promise?"

"I can't tell," she repeated.

Severus sighed inwardly but he had expected it. And the more he thought about it, the more he was beginning to sense who was behind this. He had not suspected it at first, but his daughter would not react in this way if she just wanted to protect one of her friends. But he did not want to believe it, he did not want to worry about it once again.

"I do not ask you to break your promise," he declared, kneeling to be at her height. "But I want you to make one for me." She nodded solemnly and he knew she was listening. "I want you to swear that you will not endanger your life because of it. And that you will come to see me if you think it can be the case."

"But Father, if I tell you about it, I will break my promise."

"Not necessarily, there are many ways to interpret words." Alice frowned. "I'm sure you can find a roundabout way to express what you want to say." That was a very Slytherin way of thinking but it may work as she would not _technically_ break her promise.

"If I do, you'll let me go to the match?"

Her father rolled his eyes, though he was amused, and she smiled. They had a deal.


	9. Magic Wands

The creamy orange liquid was sloshing from one side to another within the transparent glass, coming and going from left to right and from right to…

"Alice!" Raising her head from her pumpkin juice, the youngest Slytherin student focused her eyes on the blond girl sitting in front of her.

"What?"

"I was saying that Rebecca and Alexander would make a good couple, don't you think?"

"Erm, sure."

"Is that me or you have your head in the clouds this morning?" Savannah sneered.

"It's just that I haven't seen Jake and I wonder…"

"Where he is, I know," finished the older girl. "But really, I don't see why you're worrying, he's always the last one to get up."

"He's the last one in everything as far as I know," declared a girl next to them who had a turned-up nose and light freckles on her face.

"That's not nice, Cassandra."

"So what?"

Alice glared at her classmate. "Don't speak ill of Jake!"

"I'll say whatever I want to say and I don't take orders from you."

"Maybe you should, because you didn't strike me as the brightest of our class."

"Yeah, because that is you right?" spat out Cassandra.

"Couldn't you two just shut up?" exclaimed another Slytherin girl who had her nose glued to a thick book. "I'm trying to read here!"

"It doesn't make you intelligent anyway, Violet."

The girl raised her head from the book and stared at Cassandra behind her round glasses.

"At least _I_ didn't get a P on my last transfiguration essay," she replied somewhat upset.

Before the argument could go any further, the tallest girl of the second-years arrived at the Slytherin table and frowned at her classmates.

"What's going on here?" she demanded with authority. "You're drawing attention."

"Just Cassandra being jealous as usual," Savannah answered wryly.

"Jealous of a nerd and an egghead? This is not happening."

Alice rose from the bench. "Jake's not a nerd!"

"He is."

"Is not!"

"Everyone calm down please," ordered Ashley. "You know that us Slytherins must stick together, especially in front of the other houses, so you will stop this before our Head of house notices".

Alice was not happy about her friend's comment over Jake, she hated it when someone criticised her best friends because they had been her very first friends the previous school year, and she was feeling protective toward them. She left the table and hurried outside the Great Hall without looking at the others.

"Wait for me!" Savannah was running after her and the youngest stopped at the entrance of the dungeons.

"Cassandra was not serious, you know how she is," she sighed, catching up.

"Yes, but I don't like it." Seeing the surly mood of Alice, Savannah put an arm around her best friend's shoulders in an attempt to cheer her up.

"It doesn't matter," she said with a hint of mirth in her voice. "We all know that she used to wet her bed last year." Both girls giggled at that.

"She did it only twice," remarked Alice, still grinning. Truth was that she did not want to make fun of her classmate – well not too much – because she had some childish habits too. The major one she was ashamed of was thumb-sucking but she could not stop herself from doing it – only occasionally of course – much to the annoyance of her father.

A bit uncomfortable about the issue, she changed the subject. "I hope Jake won't be late, we have Potions this morning."

"Professor Snape isn't going to say anything." The blue-eyed girl shrugged before smirking. "Not in class at least."

"I know, but…" Alice could not explain the fact that she wanted her father to like her friend. She knew Jake was not perfect but Severus never said _anything_ nice about him and it bothered her that he could not see how great he was.

"Relax, I'm sure he'll be there and you can be the best Potions student as usual."

Alice shook her head in amusement. "You would be the best; if your father was the teacher. It's not like I have a choice not to be."

"No doubt, I leave you the first place," Savannah taunted. "Too much studying involved."

They talked animatedly during their half hour of free time and walked toward the Potions classroom.

Professor Snape was already there, waiting for his students to settle down and glaring at anyone who was being overly noisy. Alice met his eyes and gave him a tiny smile like she usually did when entering his class. Although his face still looked unfazed to anyone who was not familiar with deciphering his facial expressions – which fortunately included only a few persons – Severus responded positively. He observed her sit on the second row next to the Aston boy who had arrived earlier – uncommonly. She appeared to be as surprised as he was but remained silent while opening her textbook and starting to write down the instructions that were on the blackboard.

The class went well, as usual. The potions master took points from the Gryffindors and rewarded his Slytherins for every little thing they did correctly.

Alice was ahead of the other students and was paying a lot of attention to what she was doing. She did not want to risk making a mistake or she would get a tedious lecture like last year on how the potion was ridiculously simple and that she'd better not embarrass him by failing in Potions. He had overreacted – really her potion had not been that bad and she even managed to get an E for it! – but she knew better than to complain.

She finished the assigned potion several minutes before the end of the class and Snape, who was passing next to her, laid a hand on her shoulder in approval. The gesture was discreet and Alice appreciated it greatly for it was not often she received praise for her work.

 

* * *

 

The afternoon was filled with a double-class of History of Magic, that the Slytherins shared with the Hufflepuffs. It was extremely boring and she hated the subject, but Alice tried to take notes although she was easily distracted by her friends, who were not more interested than her.

While Professor Binns was rambling on for the umpteenth time about the goblin uprisings, Jake was making drawings on a sheet of parchment and Savannah was chewing the end of her quill, daydreaming.

A folded paper fell on Alice's desk and she looked up to see Jake prompting her to open it. Curious, she did so and discovered an animated drawing of a snake chasing a frightened badger. The two animals were moving nicely and she admired the spell that had been used to create it. The pursuit soon ended when the snake caught the badger and swallow it whole.

She smiled as the drawing was funny-looking and Jake silently indicated her to refold the piece of parchment and open it again. Doing so, she stared in amazement as a new drawing appeared, totally different from the first one.

A caricature of her father was walking alongside the bottom of the parchment, his robes trailing on the ground. He suddenly stumbled over them and almost fell but caught himself just in time by flapping his arms. His long sleeves rescued him by blowing up and he began to fly across the parchment, looking a lot like a bat.

Alice burst out laughing, receiving annoyed glares from the Hufflepuffs. She muttered an apology and no one paid any more attention to her.

Jake was delighted by the effect that his doodles had on his friend, he loved hearing the sound of her innocent laughter and was constantly looking to made her laugh. He had been practising for a long while before mastering the art of magic drawing and he was hoping that he could make Alice a small illustrated book for her birthday.

"How did you do that?" she asked, impressed. "That's amazing!"

"A simple spell," he replied nonchalantly. "Do you want me to teach you?"

"I would love that."

She had spoken a bit too loud and Violet, who was sitting at a nearby desk told them to shut up but was ignored.

The Slytherin boy drew a small cat on his notes and showed the spell to Alice under her admiring eyes. She tried after him but did not obtain any result – which was to be expected as he had not succeeded himself the first times.

"I can't," she whined, frustrated. "I'm sure you're cheating."

"Are you jealous of my natural talent?" Jake teased, stretching on his chair. Violet threw another irritated look at them and tapped her fingers on the top of the desk.

"Can I keep it?"

"Of course, it's yours," he smiled.

"Thanks. How long will it last?"

"Alice! Stop it or I tell your father," threatened Violet.

"Oh now, I'm trembling," mocked Alice.

"I'm serious."

Turning her eyes back on Jake, he admitted that he had no idea since he never kept his drawings.

At the end of the class, while she was putting her textbook and notes in her bag, Alice saw Cassandra coming in her direction.

"What was so funny?" she asked, wearing an amused look.

"Look at what Jake did!" Seeing the drawings, the green-eyed girl chuckled and reckoned that it was richly done.

"I guess I was wrong about him."

"Are you saying that you're sorry for this morning?"

"Erm, yeah."

"Alright then."

"Ashley made me," she confessed grudgingly.

"I had gathered that." Her voice was not angry, just amused. "Until next time."

"Well, I apologise for the next times too." The two Slytherins exchanged a knowing friendly look.

Violet approached them and handed a scroll to Alice, advising her to copy her own notes as she would obviously need it later, being so distracted in class. Then, she turned on her heels without acknowledging Cassandra at all.

"She's still mad you," noted the youngest as they headed outside the classroom, following the others.

"She'll recover soon enough."

The Slytherins decided to go to the library and Alice resigned herself to go back to the dungeons instead as she was supposed to.

Severus was not there when she arrived and she decided to study in the sitting room. Sometime later, her father joined her and frowned upon seeing her parchment. "What are you doing?"

"Violet let me copy her notes."

"Should I understand that you missed History of Magic?" Snape raised an eyebrow at his daughter who rolled her eyes.

"No, she just takes better notes than me."

"How come yours are not satisfactory? Let me see them."

Alice hesitated, chewing on her bottom lip but eventually obeyed.

" _These_ are your notes?!" he exclaimed in disbelief as he stared at the single line she had written. "Are you kidding me?"

"But Professor Binns is so boring, Father…"

"I am beginning to understand why your grades are so low in this subject."

"I try to listen but it's hard," she winced. "And I don't like History of Magic."

"You'd better try harder then, because _this_ is not acceptable." She nodded. "I will check your future notes and I hope you will put some effort into them."

"Did you have good grades in this subject when you were at school, Father?"

"Of course, I had," he smirked.

"I don't believe you," she said with a cheeky smile. "I'm sure you were as bored as me in class."

"One does not preclude the other." Shrugging, she dropped the subject and returned to her writing.

"When you have finished your homework, you can come to my lab, I will be brewing."

"Okay," she answered, eager to assist him once more.

In the evening, she remembered that she had said she would help Professor Lupin and came to remind her father. To access his laboratory, she usually needed to climb on a chair and activate a mechanism which was hidden behind the library of his office, but it was currently open. Severus was cautious when it came to his lab and had installed this special opening so as not to be disturbed by unexpected visitors and to prevent unwanted ones to spoil his work while he was away. Only Albus and his daughter knew about it and he had made sure that no one else could enter without his permission thanks to a spell placed on his library.

"Father, I'm going to see Professor Lupin," Alice reminded him warily for she was not sure he would let her go. "You remember?"

"What a pity," he replied, raising his eyes from the potion he was brewing. "This is precisely this evening that the potion you have been waiting for several months will be ready." She instantly looked at him with an unbelieving expression. "I thought you wanted to be the one to test it," he continued.

"The… the potion to speak to animals?"

"Indeed."

"But…"

"Of course, I will understand if you prefer to spend your time with dear Professor Lupin." His tone was purposely light as if his daughter had not been impatient to try it since summer.

She was completely taken aback.

"Couldn't we test it tomorrow?"

"What do you think? Will the potion remain effective?" Alice tried to recall what her father had said about this potion.

"If the potion is not prepared correctly, it can cause irreversible damage to the person's ability to speak," she recited. "However the effects will not be permanent is the potion is fresh from three days. Past this delay, it must be kept in a crystal vial mixed with a solution of potassium, otherwise it would become ineffective." Realising what it meant, she felt relieved. "So we don't have to test it today."

Severus confirmed, a smirk plastered on his face.

"That's not funny," she sulked.

"At what time should you be meeting Lupin?"

"Eight o'clock."

"Trust the werewolf to choose an indecent time," he muttered under his breath. "I'll take you there now."

"I can go on my own, I'm not a baby."

Snape didn't bother to answer and pushed her slightly towards the exit of their apartments.

When they reached Lupin's office, he knocked on the door and a surprised but smiling Remus opened.

"Severus, I wasn't expecting you."

"I entrust you with my daughter for one hour, Lupin. One hour." His tone was harsh and in total contradiction with what he did next. Leaning over Alice, he laid a hand over her head and whispered a distinct "behave" before kissing her forehead.

Feeling an awful lot like a toddler, Alice watched him leave without a second thought.

"Sorry about that, professor," she said shyly, making Lupin smile even more.

"Severus has every right to be protective over you especially since you are still very young."

"I'm almost eleven!" she declared, somewhat outraged.

The professor laughed softly. "Well, I suggest we start looking for the wand, shall we?"

"Yes, sir. But why do you need them? Why can't we use our own wands?"

"I would like to try a new method to see how you are doing."

"Like in case we lost our wand during a duel?"

"This is a good example, indeed."

"Professor Flitwick told me that once he used the wand of an opponent against him, but it didn't work properly. Did you know that he was a great duellist, professor?"

"I've heard of his exploits," he nodded. "It is always hazardous to try a wand we don't know but in some cases it can be an alternative."

"Oh, I know. When Father brought me to choose my wand at Mr Ollivander's shop, I tried one which broke all the windows panes and another set his robes on fire.

"Did it?" He seemed to prevent himself from laughing and Alice giggled a little at the memory.

"Each wand possesses its own characteristics that don't suit all the wizards. That's why when we find a wand which is not ours, we must evaluate it first and test it by throwing a harmless spell. But we will see that on Friday morning. For now, we will dedicate ourselves to the research of these wands that one of my predecessors has left here somewhere."

"Can't you just summon them, professor?"

"It is a good suggestion. Unfortunately I already tried several times without getting any result. I'm afraid we must look for it without magic."

"Why are they hidden?"

"I can imagine that the one who did it was being cautious. We never know what students could do with them." Alice thought that a wand was already enough for her but knew spare wands were useful. Her father certainly had several ones.

"Shall we start this way?" She acquiesced and they look for the wands everywhere in the rooms. Lupin was good company because he always had countless stories to tell, especially about Hogwarts which he appeared to know very well.

The more they searched the more Alice began to wonder why these wands were so well hidden – if they existed at all. When her father aimed to keep something secret, it was extremely difficult to find it. But if a professor was supposed to come across it, he would ensure that he actually find it eventually.

"Professor? How did you know these wands were here?"

"The headmaster informed me."

"He always knows everything, doesn't he?"

"It is true that he is aware of many things going on in this castle. I doubt that anything whatsoever can happen without him knowing."

Alice frowned. "I don't think so."

"What makes you say that?" Remus was amused by the fact that his student had the habit of being inquisitive and never took anything for granted.

"Unless you can be at several places at the same time, I don't see how someone can be aware of everything."

"A difficult notion to comprehend," he admitted, "but the headmaster has a special place within the school and his own ways."

"Spies can lie."

"Ah, yes. They can." smiled Lupin, musing that Severus could have said that.

"There must be a concealing charm, don't you think professor?"

"It is very likely."

"Maybe there is a secret passage," Alice pondered, thinking of the mechanism leading to her father's laboratory. This was beginning to look like a treasure hunt – which was funny – and she concentrated hard. "It has to be some place high…" They both looked up. "Where nobody would want to go snooping."

There was a huge cobweb located above an imposing oak wardrobe. "Maybe there?"

"Excellent reasoning," the teacher approved, waving his wand toward the web. A light jetted from it, reaching its target in the middle and revealed what looked like a tiny cupboard. Another flick of Lupin's wand opened the door, and they caught sight of a bunch of wands tied together with a coarse twine. "Well done, you found them. I award ten points to Slytherin." He brought them down and put the sticks on a nearby table.

"May I see them, professor?"

After checking that no spell had been placed on them, he nodded and observed Severus's daughter contemplated the wands. Sophisticated patterns were engraved on each one. "These are beautiful." A black one had a serpent twisted around the handle, and she loved it immediately, hoping she could choose this one on Friday.

"I don't recognise the style of Mr Ollivander, they are probably not from Britain."

"Mine is not so pretty," she acknowledged, comparing it with the others.

"On the contrary, the clovers that decorate it are nicely done." The reassurance of Lupin over her wand seemed to have more effect on Alice that it should have.

"Yes, they are." She nodded. "But my wand is made from hawthorn wood and unicorn hair, nine and a half inches." She looked as if there could not be worst combination. "I wish I could have dragon core and cedar like my father."

"Your wand has chosen you which means it is one of the best suited for a young talented witch like you." The little girl smiled at him and he suspected that it was the first time someone had ever said that to her. He wondered if Severus had realised how insecure his daughter felt about almost everything.

"Thank you for helping me, Alice. It surely would have taken me longer to find them without you."

"You're welcome, professor."

Lupin regretted never having children, so being able to teach here at Hogwarts was something he enjoyed very much – not to mention the best career opportunity he ever had – and most of the students liked him. And there was Harry, the son of his old friend, whom he tried to know a bit more each day.

"Harry talked to me about his visit to you and Severus recently," he spoke sadly. I didn't know he had an addiction problem." He sighed. "He told me Severus had given him a potion that had helped. I hope it will be enough."

"I did the brewing with my father," declared Alice proudly. "And I assisted him with your Wolfsbane potion too!" Lupin's eyes grew wide at this announcement.

"You know about… my condition?"

"Yes, but I didn't tell anyone." Remus was relieved to no end at hearing this, but was rather disturbed that Severus had shared the news with his daughter.

"Well, I should probably thank you for that evenly."

There was a knock at the door and Remus was grateful, as a feeling of uneasiness was rising inside his chest.

The door was opened and the potions master of Hogwarts emerged from the corridor. "Come, Alice." He had spoken without looking at his colleague but this one didn't seem to mind, still deep in thought.

"How was it?" he asked once they left. Alice briefly explained what they did and the reaction of Professor Lupin when she had told him about the wolfsbane potion.

"He's not mad at me, is he?"

"No," Snape sneered. "Not at you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Concerning Snape's wand, as J.K. Rowling never mentioned anything about it (at least not yet), I chose to give him a dragon heartstring core and cedar wood (though I hesitated with blackthorn) I think it suits him nicely :)


End file.
